Steve Cooper is set to be named as successor to Chris Hughton at Nottingham Forest.

Hughton was sacked last week as Forest’s winless start to the season extended to seven games following the defeat to Middlesbrough. It brought an end to his 11-month spell in charge, his first game being a 1-0 win at Rovers in October 2020.

Former Rovers midfielder Steven Reid was placed in temporary charge and guided Forest to a first win of the campaign at Huddersfield Town at the weekend, with the club now set to appoint a permanent head coach.

Cooper has been out of work since leaving Swansea City in the summer after guiding them to the play-off final where they were beaten by Brentford.

He had been at the Liberty Stadium since 2019, having previously worked within the England youth set-up at Under-16 and Under-17 level, which helped him to secure several top prospects on loan.

However, he and the club decided to part ways after successive play-off finishes, via mutual consent, with Russell Martin taking over at the Swans prior to the opening day game with Rovers.

The nature of Cooper’s departure saw him placed on gardening leave, with still a year left to run on his deal, as the Swans continued to pay him as they would any other employee.

That ensured that any club wanting to take him as their new manager, with Crystal Palace and Fulham having previously been linked, would need to pay compensation, albeit a reduced fee.

The figure, reported to be around £500,000, is said to have been agreed, with Cooper taking training at his new club this morning before his announcement is formalised.

His first game in charge will be at home to Millwall on Saturday.