‘There’s no problem with the attitude or commitment of the players’.

Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper is pleased that his side “did not crumble” in Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Liverpool despite being two down at half-time.

Forest started without a recognised striker at Anfield with Chris Wood out with a hamstring problem and Taiwo Awoniyi only fit enough for the bench, and failed to offer a real goal threat until the Nigerian came on in the second-half.

“Taiwo was only supposed to give us so many minutes and he gave us a bit more,” Cooper told BBC Radio Nottingham. “Just having a number nine on the pitch made it look a bit more normal, more natural.

“Whether it be him or Divock (Origi) – they just know the role. Then Anthony (Elanga) goes into a more normal position, Morgan (Gibbs-White) can connect and then all of a sudden we definitely got a bit more impetus in the game.

“We were getting into positions, getting a bit of momentum, and that third goal has just come a the worst time.

“I’ve seen loads of games here (at Anfield) and I’ve seen teams 2-0 or 1-0 down at half-time and completely crumble and give up. We didn’t do that.

“Even players who felt like they may have made mistakes for goals – I didn’t see them hide or get too despondent, I saw them really stick to being as good as they can be in the game.

“There’s no problem with the attitude of the players or the commitment, just a little bit on the decision making in the defining moments and that’s cost us.”