Postecoglou ready to earn the love and trust of Forest fans

Boss Ange Postecoglou is ready to take his relationship with Nottingham Forest fans to the next level.

The head coach heads into his first home game in charge against Sunderland on Saturday.

Four winless away games, including draws at Burnley and Real Betis, have opened his reign at Forest, despite progress in the way he wants them to play.

Forest now have four home games in their next five outings - including Thursday's Europa League visit of Midtjylland - with Postcoglou aiming to strengthen his bond with supporters.

"It's like the beginning of any relationship - you get to know one another," he said.

"Sometimes it's love at first sight. The sense is this isn't one of those cases - but that's OK. It doesn't mean you can't have a long relationship.

"I've always felt I prefer these things to grow because I think sometimes it's also a little bit false if there's too much of this 'love the manager from day one'.

"You need to earn the love, support and trust of your supporters. That's my role and what hopefully I'll do over the coming period.

"With the fans, I've always had the same wherever I've been.

"It's about me earning the respect and the trust. The only way I can do that is with my work.

"I don't think there are any supporters out there that don't want their team to do well. I'm sure all the supporters coming want us to win and they want to get behind the team - and, in turn, get behind me, but I don't take that for granted."