Nottingham Forest support will be 'unconditional' to Joe Worrall after death of hero officer uncle
Steve Cooper said "family comes first, football comes second" at a press conference following the death of Joe Worrall's uncle
Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper says the club will support captain Joe Worrall unconditionally after the death of his uncle, Sergeant Graham Saville, who was hit by a train.
Sergeant Saville, a response officer based at Newark police station, suffered serious injuries when he was hit by a train near Newark-on-Trent, on Thursday 24 August as he helped a man in distress on the tracks.
The "hugely respected and popular" officer died in hospital on Tuesday.
In a press conference on Thursday, Cooper said: "When any of our players or staff have difficult moments, we like to think that our biggest strength is we come together behind the scenes and on match day.
"We're all very proud of how much of a together club we are.
"We're supporting him [Joe] as best we can, we've known since the incident happened.
"We're here for him, family comes first, football comes second."
"Our support for him is unconditional"
Cooper said that he couldn't speak for Joe but that the club would support him unconditionally.
"We won't take our focus off the football but we'll be mindful of how we support Joe too," he said.
"Joe's a no-fuss guy. However he and his family want to deal with this we'll be led by him, but he won't want it to interfere in any way, shape or form with football.
"Hopefully football can give him a bit of respite as well.
"If anything, these sorts of things should motivate us even more.
"Our support for him is unconditional, that's what we do here on and off the pitch, that's what we're offering Joe at the moment. I think he'll speak when he's ready, we're here for him and whatever he needs from us he'll get."
The grass routes clubs where Sgt Saville volunteered are also expected to pay tribute to him this weekend with a minute's silence ahead of each fixture.
Police have confirmed they are not carrying out a criminal investigation into the death of Sergeant Saville.
The 29-year-old man rescued from the tracks remains in hospital being treated for injuries caused by electricity.
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