Ward-Prowse Expresses Hope for a ‘Special’ Season at Nottingham Forest

James Ward-Prowse has commented on the “fantastic group” of players and staff at Nottingham Forest, along with his aspirations for the club to “challenge for something really special this season”. During an appearance on BBC Radio Nottingham’s Shut Up And Show More Football podcast, Ward-Prowse discussed his initial period at the club, stating: “I’ve settled in very well, it’s been a fantastic group to come into.” He further added, “I’ve been welcomed in straight away and it’s a pleasure coming into training every day and working with the players and the staff – it’s been a real pleasure so far and we’re looking to hopefully build.” Nottingham Forest currently holds the seventh position in the Premier League, and the midfielder, on loan from West Ham, attributes this standing to the strong camaraderie within the squad. He elaborated, saying: “You need that to perform well in the Premier League, you can’t get by on ability alone, you need a bit of togetherness and to suffer together – when you do that, you need good people around you.” He continued, “I can look around the team and bench and see a real good group of lads who are willing to fight for each other and you need that in those difficult moments in games to get results.” Ward-Prowse also noted, “The challenge is to build on the great start, we can’t get carried away with how well we’ve been doing, but we need to focus on building on what we’ve done and hopefully that will leave us in good stead to challenge for something really special this season.” This Saturday, Forest is scheduled to play against West Ham, which is Ward-Prowse’s parent club. Commenting on the 13th-placed Hammers, he remarked: “The start’s not been the best for them but it’s still a squad full of Premier League-quality players who can hurt you at any moment.” He added, “It’s going to be a strange game watching it from a neutral perspective – I’ll be sitting on my hands either way!”