Nottingham Forest manager Vítor Pereira must decide how much to rotate for this Europa League match with Premier League survival in the balance
Nottingham Forest host FC Porto tonight in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final with the tie evenly balanced at 1-1 on aggregate. With everything to play for, Forest head coach Vítor Pereira is still sweating on the availability of a few key players as he prepares to take on his former club.
With home advantage and Porto’s terrible record on English soil, Forest good reason to fancy themselves against the Liga Portugal leaders. The Europa League has been a source of joy for Forest this season, but Pereira needs to balance the quest for European glory with the goal of Premier League survival.
Anderson a doubt for Porto game
A huge boost for Nottingham Forest fans on Thursday night would be seeing Elliot Anderson in the starting lineup after he was suspended for the first leg. However, the star midfielder is a doubt after he missed training on Wednesday.
Anderson played 90 minutes in the weekend’s 1-1 draw at home to Aston Villa and is not believed to be injured, but his availability is uncertain. The 23-year-old missed training on Wednesday for undisclosed personal reasons.
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More minutes for McAtee and Bakwa
As Pereira juggles competing on two fronts, rotation has been a key part of his approach. Two players who have been given a chance in this competition are James McAtee and Dilane Bakwa.
The young duo both started the away leg in Porto and could be in line to start again tonight after Pereira praised both players in his pre-match press conference.
“Both players are very talented. When you have players with this sort of talent, you just need to give them confidence, support and chances to play,” said Pereira.
Injury list remains for Pereira
Alongside the fresh doubts about Anderson, Pereira will remain without Jair Cunha, Nicolo Savona, Willy Boly and John Victor as they remain on the proverbial treatment table.
With a huge game on Sunday against fellow strugglers Burnley in the battle to avoid the drop, Nottingham Forest will naturally have one eye on the Premier League.
