Nottingham Forest clinched their place in the semi-finals of the Europa League with victory over Porto
07:27, 17 Apr 2026
After their win over Porto, Nottingham Forest players and staff show support for Elliot Anderson following the death of his mother
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After their win over Porto, Nottingham Forest players and staff show support for Elliot Anderson following the death of his mother(Image: Getty)
Head coach Vitor Pereira says he is unsure whether Elliot Anderson will be available for Nottingham Forest’s crunch clash with Burnley, following the death of his mother.
Anderson was not involved on Thursday night as the Reds clinched their place in the Europa League semi-finals. His teammates and the City Ground crowd showed their support for the midfielder on the night as the hosts triumphed 1-0 to secure a 2-1 aggregate win.
Morgan Gibbs-White held up a shirt in tribute to his teammate after scoring in the 12th minute, while the “Geordie Maradona” chant rang out throughout. Pereira offered his condolences in his post-match press conference.
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The Forest boss said: “Very sad situation. Everyone plays with Elliot in their heart.
“The players think about him. My condolences to the family. We are here to help him and we will see if he can play the next game.”
He added: “I said to my players in the dressing room, it is an honour for me to be the manager of this group because they have character and quality. Sometimes you have quality but you don’t have the team spirit.
“We are fighting for each other. When one of us is suffering, we are there to take care of them. That is why I feel proud of them.”
Victory for the Reds set up a clash with Premier League rivals Aston Villa in the semi-finals. They had to fight for the win against the 10 men of Porto, though, and certainly did not have it all their own way.
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Jan Bednarek was sent off early on for the visitors, for a horrible challenge on Chris Wood. However, Porto continued to create chances right up until the final whistle.
“Important to put smiles on the face of the supporters and connect the team with the supporters, unite the family and to believe,” Pereira said. “We feel that we are creating something, the spirit to compete, to enjoy and to suffer together.”
Pereira continued: “It was a very good first half. We could have scored more goals.
“But the culture of Porto is they never give up and they have a good team. The second half was open and they risked everything to score a goal. In the end, a good feeling.
“The first game we played there, we made nine changes (to the team) and got a good result. With a good result, playing at home in front of our supporters we had a chance to compete.
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“Smiles on the faces of my players. A win helps to recover faster for the next game, against Burnley.”
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