Vitor Pereira's Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 with Aston Villa in a Premier League clash at the City Ground on Sunday
07:00, 13 Apr 2026
Nottingham Forest head coach Vitor Pereira shouts instructions against Aston Villa
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Nottingham Forest head coach Vitor Pereira shouts instructions against Aston Villa(Image: Getty)
Head coach Vitor Pereira has explained why strikers Taiwo Awoniyi and Lorenzo Lucca missed out on Nottingham Forest’s match squad against Aston Villa.
With Chris Wood fit again after a six-month lay-off, the New Zealand international was involved for the Reds in a Premier League game for the first time since October. He came off the bench in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Villa and linked up with Igor Jesus in attack for a time.
Awoniyi and Napoli loanee Lucca, however, were not included among the substitutes. Pereira says he needed to pick a bench with options in different positions.
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“I’m very happy with my players,” he said when asked about Awoniyi and Lucca. “When you prepare for a game and decide your squad, you think about what problems you might have.
“If I have a problem with my striker (Igor), I have Chris Wood on the bench. If I want to play with two strikers, Igor didn’t play 90 minutes in the last game (against Porto) and is in condition to play, so if I want to play with both, I can play with both.
“I need to have solutions for the wingers. I need to have solutions for the midfielders. It was not about Taiwo or about Lucca, it was about the balance of the list.”
Neco Williams’ equaliser ensured Forest claimed a valuable point against Villa as they bounced back from a Murillo own goal. It leaves Pereira’s side three points above the relegation zone with six games to go.
Burnley will visit the banks of the Trent in another crucial league game this weekend. But before then, the Reds host Porto in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final.
Pereira made nine changes to his starting XI against Villa from the team that drew 1-1 in Portugal last Thursday. He feels he needs to continue to rotate line-ups between the two competitions in order to give Forest the best possible chance to compete in both.
“The schedule is the schedule. I am trying to balance and compete in two competitions, but it is not easy,” Pereira said.
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“Imagine if I had played with the same team as against Porto. In my opinion, I believe we would not have had chance to compete with this team because it is impossible to recover. They (Villa) used the same players, but they are a team who can adapt to play every three days, and they have been working together for a long time.
“I remember the game against Liverpool (a 1-0 defeat), we had the game (against Fenerbahce) before, and if you remember it was a very good first half but we suffered a lot in the second half because I felt my team was not in the condition to compete in the same level. We learn with experience.
“We have gone five games (in all competitions) without losing, we shouldn’t forget that. If we get points from every game until the end of the season, I will be happy.”
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