Pereira explains why he took Wood, Gibbs-White and Murillo off and praises players after Porto draw

Pereira explains why he took Wood, Gibbs-White and Murillo off and praises players after Porto draw

Vitor Pereira says he decided to bring off Chris Wood, Morgan Gibbs-White and Murillo against Porto with their Premier League clash with Aston Villa on Sunday in mind.

Wood returned to the starting line-up on his comeback from a knee injury which has kept him out since October as Forest drew 1-1 in their Europa League quarter-final first leg.

Pereira’s side trailed early on but had a bizarre own goal from Martim Fernandes to thank for the draw.

Explaining why he brought the key trio off with the game level, the Forest boss said: “The subs we did I was thinking about the next game against Villa. It’s very important for us to get points in the league and this is the only way.”

Pereira was also full of praise for his players: “A good result in my opinion. To face two competitions we need to play with everyone. The players that started today did good work. In the end, 1-1, the game is open to play at home and decide qualification.

“Porto playing at home are a strong team. They have momentum with supporters. Forest I try to balance the two competitions, it was very clear we played with nine different players to the last game. I think we did well. The players tried everything. 1-1 is a good result and playing at home we will see what we can do.”