STEVE Cooper refused to discuss the prospect of chasing down Cherries for second place in the Championship, after a 2-0 win over Birmingham helped Nottingham Forest close the gap to six points.

Forest are now unbeaten in 10 Championship games and have won five in a row, after goals from Keinan Davis and Scott McKenna propelled them to another success.

But despite seeing his side climb into third place, Cooper maintained the same mantra that he has done all season – by insisting that nobody within the Forest ranks would be allowed to look beyond the trip to face play-off rivals Luton on Friday.

“We have to go to Luton and not look any further beyond that. We have the chance now to recharge and go into another two games in four days,” said Cooper, when asked if Forest could catch the Cherries and push for automatic promotion.

“We will not look any further than Luton. I will not look at anything else. We will focus on the things we are in control of. Our recovery, our preparation and our performance against Luton.

“The rest of it is just motivation, that is all. We keep our heads down, we work hard and we prepare for another game next weekend.”

Forest are also set to make the trip to Vitality Stadium on the penultimate game of the league campaign on Tuesday, May 3.

The game had been set to take place on Friday, February 18, before damage to the ground caused by Storm Eunice forced a postponement.