Taiwo Awoniyi missed out on the Nottingham Forest squad as a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa was secured.
Neco Williams rescued a point for Forest after Murillo had scored an own goal to fire the visitors ahead in the first half.
Who was your Man of the Match vs Aston Villa?
Forest gained another point on Tottenham, however, with Spurs beaten 1-0 by Sunderland and the Reds have a big chance to pull clear next weekend when Burnley come to the City Ground.
After important goals against Brentford and Tottenham in recent months, it was a surprise not to see Awoniyi in the squad and Vitor Pereira was quizzed on that omission after the match.
Dan Ndoye celebrates with Taiwo Awoniyi as Nottingham Forest beat Tottenham.
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Why Vitor Pereira omitted Taiwo Awoniyi from Forest squad
Awoniyi hasn’t been considered the first choice at Forest for a while, but after scoring against Tottenham last time out in the Premier League, his omission was surprising.
After the game, Pereira was asked about Awoniyi not being included and he made a claim that suggested it was a tough decision made rather than one impacted by any fitness issue.
He said in his press conference: “When you prepare for a game, you decide your squad, you think about the problems you might have.
MORE FOREST STORIES
“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 and is in condition to play, so if you want to play with both, I can play with both.
“I need to have solutions for the wingers, I need solutions for the midfielders. It was not about Taiwo or about Lucca, it was about the balance of the list.”
Awoniyi has a part to play this season
The Nigerian performer does offer a different option for Forest to consider, and it was a shame he wasn’t on the bench for the Reds against Aston Villa.
Clearly, Pereira feels that Wood brings the same sort of attributes that Awoniyi does, and there is only really a need for one of them to be on the bench.
With Awoniyi not named in the Europa League squad, he will have to wait until Sunday now to see if he makes the cut for the game against Burnley at the City Ground.
Forest need every player to be ready if called upon and Awoniyi will almost certainly have a part to play between now and the end of the season.
Join Our Newsletter
Receive a digest of our best Nottingham Forest content each week direct to your mailbox