Steve Cooper is hoping empty stadiums will not return to football after admitting Nottingham Forest’s 25,000 fans inspired his players to a 2-1 comeback victory over Hull.

A first-half goal by Keane Lewis-Potter was cancelled out by a controversial penalty, awarded in front of a raucous home crowd and converted by skipper Lewis Grabban.

Brennan Johnson then almost lifted the roof off the City Ground with a 72nd-minute winner and an appreciative Cooper said: “Coming back from 1-0 down at half-time when you’ve played so well is difficult and it would have been even harder if the fans weren’t here.

“I think it could have been a different story if we didn’t have 25,000 of them driving us on. So many people I talk to say it’s an event coming to Forest because of the status of the club and how big it is.

“Everybody’s health must come first with Covid, but I hope our fans can keep coming to games, because they’re so important for us and I also know how important going to football is for everybody.”

The victory left Forest, who were looking relegation candidates before Cooper’s arrival, just one point off the Championship play-off places after a nine-match unbeaten run.

On that transformation, the modest former Swansea boss added: “We’re in good form, but it’s only good form if you keep it going and we are challenging them to do that.

“I thought we were excellent in the first half with our build-up play and possession and we caused real problems for Hull. They scored a good goal to be fair even if it was a bit soft from our point of view.

“It’s then a tough one to handle mentally because the players could have easily felt sorry for themselves at half-time but the players’ response after they came out for the second half was fantastic.”

Hull boss Grant McCann was left reeling from the 51st-minute penalty decision that he felt proved the game’s pivotal moment, labelling its award as an “absolute howler”.

Alex Mighten was left injured in the clash with George Honeyman that saw referee John Busby point to the spot but McCann insisted that the Forest substitute had crocked himself after he had inadvertently kicked his midfielder.

“We were so comfortable and had scored a good goal to go 1-0 up, but the momentum of the game swung on an absolute howler by John Busby,” McCann fumed.

“George Honeyman has actually got a gash on his shin, because he has taken the ball and their player has kicked him.

“It’s crazy at this level of football that that decision should be so wrong because he was five yards away from the play. It’s so frustrating and I’m not one to criticise referees but that one was an embarrassing decision.

“But the performance levels of the group are getting better every week and we can take heart from how we played against a team who are on one of the best runs in the Championship.”

McCann also argued that the contest pitted the Championship’s two best players against each other and felt that both lived up to their star billings.

“I think we witnessed the two best talents in the EFL in Brennan Johnson and Keane Lewis-Potter,” he declared.

“It was like a battle of who was going to do something the best and they both ended up scoring.”