Nottingham Forest manager Vitor Pereira has acknowledged that the club's Europa League campaign is jeopardising their Premier League survival hopes. Forest sit just two points above the relegation zone after a 2-1 defeat at Brighton on Sunday, a result that came three days after their Europa League play-off against Fenerbahce.
Pereira was able to rest captain Morgan Gibbs-White for the midweek European fixture, and the midfielder scored Forest's equaliser after Brighton's Diego Gomez had opened the scoring. However, a tired Forest side were beaten by Danny Welbeck's winner. Pereira pointed to the disparity in preparation time, noting Brighton had a full week to prepare while his side had only three days.
"They (Brighton) prepared in seven days, not in three days as we did," said Pereira. "They tried to press us and we didn't find the proper spaces to go. They scored again after a mistake. We rested Morgan for the last game. It makes a big difference."
Forest face a daunting run of fixtures, starting with a trip to Manchester City on Wednesday, before the Europa League last-16 first leg against Midtjylland. That match kicks off a 10-day period with four games, culminating in a crucial relegation battle at Tottenham.
