Nottingham Forest manager Vitor Pereira has openly admitted that he will prioritise his team's Premier League survival over their European ambitions, confirming he will rotate the squad for Thursday's Europa League clash against FC Midtjylland in Denmark.
Relegation Battle Takes Precedence
Forest head into the Europa League round of 16 second leg trailing 1-0 from the first match, but Pereira's focus is firmly on next week's Premier League visit to Tottenham Hotspur. This fixture could have a massive bearing on Forest's relegation fate, with the team currently hovering just above the drop zone after a 0-0 draw with Fulham on Sunday.
"I need to rotate the team because it is the third game after three days," Pereira explained. "I need to go there with the spirit to fight for the qualification, of course. But if I don't rotate the team against Tottenham after three days again, travel again, it would not be possible to compete."
Every Point Matters in Survival Fight
The Portuguese manager emphasised that while the Tottenham match is important, every remaining game carries equal weight in their battle to avoid the drop. "And, of course, Tottenham is an important game because it's another chance for us to get points. But we can win against Tottenham and after, if we lose the games until the end of the season, the relegation will happen," he stated.
"Of course, it's important, but the game after Tottenham has the same importance. That is important, because we need to get points, and we need to keep the speed that is possible to get points from every game."
Frustration at City Ground
Forest's home form continues to be a major concern in their survival bid. Despite being the better team against Fulham, they failed to score for the seventh time in eight Premier League home games this season. Their lack of goals at the City Ground is making their survival task significantly more difficult.
The match saw two key decisions go against Forest:
- Dan Ndoye had a goal disallowed for a marginal offside
- A penalty award was also chalked off after the winger was deemed offside
"I celebrated the goal," said Pereira, who has yet to taste victory in the Premier League since taking over from Sean Dyche. "I waited for the decision. I was so convinced it was a clear goal. In the end, it's football. It is difficult to understand. One centimetre. Against Liverpool, the decision was to give the goal. Today, it was the opposite. You cannot celebrate goals."
Despite the frustration, Pereira praised his team's spirit: "What I retain in my mind about this game is the spirit of the team. They tried everything to win this game."
Fulham's European Aspirations
Meanwhile, Fulham manager Marco Silva acknowledged the difficulty of the match as his team continues to chase European qualification. "Difficult, definitely, as we expected," Silva said. "We are in this moment of the season when all the teams, it doesn't matter what they are fighting for, are going to make every single game much more difficult to get to three points."
"And was another good example of it today. It was a point on the road for us, a clean sheet, which is very important."
As Forest prepare for their European trip to Denmark, Pereira's comments make clear that Premier League survival remains the absolute priority, with squad rotation inevitable as they face a congested fixture schedule in their battle against relegation.
