'Forest can survive and win the Europa League'

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Championship game on a Saturday, Champions League match on a Tuesday?

While Nottingham Forest bask in the glory of Thursday's victory over Porto in the Europa League quarter-finals, their position in the Premier League means their short and medium-term future remains somewhat complicated.

Forest's battling 1-0 win to secure a 2-1 victory on aggregate means they will play Aston Villa in their first European semi-final for 42 years.

The winners of that all-English tie will head to Istanbul for the final on 20 May - against either Freiburg or Braga - as favourites.

And victory in Turkey will not only earn silverware but a spot in next season's Champions League.

Before that, however, Forest face crucial league fixtures against Burnley and Sunderland. If results in those games and elsewhere go against them, they could be in the relegation zone by the time that last-four tie with Villa arrives.

Winning the Europa League was a target for Forest at the start of the season, having spent about £180m on new players.

Owner Evangelos Marinakis was looking to build on last season's seventh-place finish, when Forest missed out on the Champions League on the final day.