Nottingham Forest have launched an investigation into the behaviour of some of the club's fans after offensive chants were heard during their 1-1 draw against Chelsea on Sunday evening.
Forest battled back from a goal down to pick up a deserved point in the Premier League. Raheem Sterling gave Chelsea an early lead with a close-range finish before Serge Aurier equalised from a corner.
The result is an important one for relegation-threatened Forest. But the match has been marred by actions of a minority of the home supporters at the City Ground, with reports of discriminatory chants surfacing.
Forest said in a statement: "The club are aware of reports concerning chants aimed at Chelsea supporters from a minority of fans this evening and do not condone any type of discriminatory or offensive behaviour. The matter will be fully investigated."
There were 29,229 supporters inside the City Ground for Sunday's 4.30pm kick-off. Forest made a poor start to the match, with Willy Boly's attempted clearance from Christian Pulisic's cross cannoning off the crossbar, allowing Sterling to make it 1-0.
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Forest responded well, with Brennan Johnson threatening twice before Morgan Gibbs-White struck the underside of the crossbar from Ryan Yates' cut-back.
Serge Aurier scored Nottingham Forest's equaliser (Clive Mason/Getty Images)They got their deserved equaliser when Boly nodded down for Aurier, who kept his composure and volleyed through Kepa Arrizabalaga's legs.
"Don't take fans for granted, earn their support week in week out. If we can do that, we can make this a tough place - that's all in our control," Forest manager Cooper told the BBC.
"On the away form, we won't shy away from things we need to improve on or make excuses. Our performances have not been at the level required to earn points away from home.
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring for Chelsea (PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)"No elephants in the room we tackle things head on and away form is something we need to look at. Everything we do at the moment is about us, how we grow the team, the spirit and identity.
"I know we didn't win today but it was a good reference point that we can play against the big teams in the league. We're in control of our destiny and we have to keep building.
"I see things happening both ways, we have to ignore people saying 'oh here's Forest again' and look at the squad. We can and want to improve and the squad, we carry on with our work, really enjoying working with these players and the spirit is excellent. They are committed to what we want to do."
Forest remain in the Premier League relegation zone, in 18th, following the draw, but are now level with West Ham on 14 points.
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