Pereira made nine changes to his side for the match at the Estadio Du Dragao.
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Vitor Pereira at the final whistle (Zed Jameson/PA)
Vitor Pereira at the final whistle (Zed Jameson/PA) (PA Wire)
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Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira said staying in the Premier League was his side’s priority after they drew 1-1 in the Europa League quarter-final first leg at Porto.
Pereira made nine changes to his side for the match at the Estadio Du Dragao, but they escaped with their European hopes intact, thanks in part to a bizarre own goal from Martim Fernandes, who sent a 25-yard back-pass into his own net.
Forest fell behind to William Gomes’ early strike and relied on goalkeeper Stefan Ortega making a string of good saves to ensure the tie will be decided at the City Ground in next week’s second leg.
But the Portuguese insisted his side’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa is more important, with Forest’s survival not yet guaranteed.
“It was a better result than the exhibition clearly, but we changed some players compared to the last match,” Pereira said.
“In three days we play against Aston Villa, we are already thinking about that match, if we were certain in the Premier League we would be talking about another match.
“I am pleased with the result, they tried to give everything, we will see what we can do next week.
“In England, we have to play at 2pm, we don’t have 72 hours to recover, that is the minimum we could ask for.
“The first substitutions we made were already thinking about the match on Sunday.
“We are playing to stay in the Premier League against West Ham, Leeds, Tottenham and us.
“That has to be taken very seriously. We have ambitions in the Europa League, but we have to be responsible and we need to add points as soon as possible to remain in the Premier League.
“The result was better than the exhibition but it was no surprise.”
Forest are aiming to reach their first European semi-final since 1984 and this is a realistic opportunity to win a major trophy.
They have the tie in their hands going into next week’s second leg, but Periera says how he approaches the game will be determined by what happens against Aston Villa on Sunday.
“If we win the match against Aston Villa it will be one scenario and I hope we can win and compete with a big team who won 3-1 tonight,” he added.
“In two and a half days we will be playing and after that we will see what we have to do.”