Vitor Pereira admits he will prioritise Forest’s Premier League fate over Europe

Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira will prioritise next week’s crunch clash with Tottenham ahead of the Europa League after his side dropped two points in a 0-0 draw with Fulham.

Forest head to FC Midtjylland on Thursday, hoping to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit in the round of 16 tie.

However, the Premier League visit to north London could have a massive bearing on their relegation fate and Pereira admits he will select his side accordingly in midweek.

“I need to rotate the team because it is the third game after three days,” he said after seeing his side climb out of the relegation zone after the stalemate.

“I need to go there with the spirit to fight for the qualification, of course. But if I don’t rotate the team against Tottenham after three days again, travel again, it would not be possible to compete.

“And, of course, Tottenham is an important game because it’s another chance for us to get points. But we can win against Tottenham and after, if we lose the games until the end of the season, the relegation will happen.

“Of course, it’s important, but the game after Tottenham has the same importance. That is important, because we need to get points, and we need to keep the speed that is possible to get points from every game.”

Forest were the better team, but their lack of goals at home is making their survival task so much more difficult.

They have now found the net just twice in seven Premier League games in front of their own fans after drawing another blank.

Dan Ndoye had a goal disallowed for a marginal offside, while a penalty award was also chalked off after the winger had strayed the wrong side of the away defence.

“I celebrated the goal,” Pereira, who has yet to taste victory in the Premier League since taking over from Sean Dyche, said.

“I waited for the decision. I was so convinced it was a clear goal. In the end, it’s football.

“It is difficult to understand. One centimetre. Against Liverpool, the decision was to give the goal. Today, it was the opposite. You cannot celebrate goals.

“I celebrated because I didn’t see anything.

“What I retain in my mind about this game is the spirit of the team. They tried everything to win this game.”

Fulham still have European aspirations, but they never really threatened at the City Ground.

“Difficult, definitely, as we expected,” boss Marco Silva said.

“We are in this moment of the season when all the teams, it doesn’t matter what they are fighting for, are going to make every single game much more difficult to get to three points.

“And was another good example of it today. It was a point on the road for us, a clean sheet, which is very important.”