Steve Cooper insisted he saw the right signs from his Nottingham Forest side despite a 4-0 hammering against midlands rivals Leicester City which sent them bottom of the Premier League table.

James Maddison ran the show for the Foxes in a battle of the league’s bottom two teams, scoring either side of a fine strike from Harvey Barnes in a devastating 11-minute spell before teeing up Patson Daka for the fourth in the second half.

Premier League team of the week featuring three 10/10 displays and including Man...

The meeting of the under-pressure Cooper and Brendan Rodgers was variously billed as the ‘P45 Derby’ or ‘El Sackico’, and defeat sees Forest swap places with Leicester to drop to the bottom of the table, a fifth straight loss their worst run in the league since 2004.

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 03: Steve Cooper, Manager of Nottingham Forest looks on during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Nottingham Forest at The King Power Stadium on October 03, 2022 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Cooper is still trying to get to grips with a squad that had 22 new arrivals this summer, but insisted progress was being made.

“It’s a poor run of results, the stat on chances and goals we’re conceding is not good and we’re trying to address it, but what I would say is you didn’t see the team give up,” he said.

“I know it’s a group of players that care even though we’re new. Sometimes you can feel that and I’m not sensing that at the moment. We’re just trying to put loads of layers of our work in to become the team we want to be and we’re not that at the moment.

“We’ve got a lot of new players and it’s not just about being a team on the pitch. It’s about the relationships, the camaraderie and everything else you need to be a successful team. We are trying to become that on the job in the hardest league in the world.”

Cooper is now the odds-on favourite to be the next Premier League manager to leave, with Rodgers’ job looking safer following the Foxes first win of the season.

Next Premier League manager to leave (odds correct as of 11am, October 4, 2022)

Steve Cooper – 2/9

Ralph Hasenhüttl – 7/1

Brendan Rodgers – 9/1

Steven Gerrard – 12/1

David Moyes – 20/1

Frank Lampard – 20/1

Jesse Marsch – 20/1

Roberto De Zerbi – 20/1

Jurgen Klopp – 22/1

Antonio Conte- 25/1

Erik ten Hag – 25/1

Marco Silva – 28/1

Graham Potter – 33/1

Patrick Vieira – 33/1

Eddie Howe – 50/1

Thomas Frank – 50/1

Mikel Arteta – 66/1

Pep Guardiola – 80/1

No manager to leave – 200/1

Next Premier League manager to be sacked: Nottingham Forest boss heavy favourite while predictions made on Leicester, Southampton, Aston Villa, Everton and Leeds United bosses