Nottinghamshire

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

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Midtjylland will return to haunt Nottingham Forest, a reminder of the chaos which has enveloped the season.

The four-time Danish champions, last season's runners-up, inflicted a devastating blow on Ange Postecoglou in October.

Their 3-2 win at the City Ground in the Europa League group phase damaged the Australian beyond repair, with Forest fans chanting "sacked in the morning" just three weeks into his reign.

This time they arrive in the last 16, with the first leg in Nottingham on 12 March, and will not even face Postecoglou's replacement - with Sean Dyche lasting just 114 days himself.

Current boss, the fourth of the season, Vitor Pereira made six changes as Forest edged past Fenerbahce on Thursday, losing 2-1 at the City Ground to progress 4-2 on aggregate in the play-off round.

He admitted he needed to be mindful of Sunday's trip to Brighton and Forest could be in the Premier League's bottom three if West Ham beat Liverpool on Saturday.

Pereira sidestepped a question about whether the Premier League is the priority over the Europa League but survival is paramount for Forest.

After the first leg against Midtjylland at the City Ground they host Fulham before travelling to Tottenham following the away leg a week later.

It will be a test of Pereira's skills and their squad depth to juggle both competitions late into the season.

If he can do what Postecoglou could not, and beat of Midtjylland, then it could provide the springboard to survival.

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Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Brighton at American Express Stadium (kick-off 14:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• He was forced to play Murillo at left-back against Fenerbahce as they "have one or two positions that don't have solutions" at the moment.

• They are "working hard" to get Chris Wood back as soon as possible, with the view for at least the last six games of the season.

• He said his side played "best" when they were 2-0 down to Fenerbahce on Thursday and they "had the personality" to try to get back in the game.

• On opponents Brighton: "They have a good team. Offensively they play very good football. I believe that it will be a tough match. We want to play good football, they want to play good football. We want the three points, they want three points."

• He said he wants his side "to play the way we played against Liverpool in the first half" because it showed "confidence".

• On how he looks to solve Forest's goalscoring struggles this season: "In Istanbul we scored three goals. We are creating the chances, and I believe that we can score the goals that we need to build our future."

• He said he "cannot control" what Leeds and West Ham do in their respective games on Saturday so his focus is "on the pitch, our efforts, our organisation, our ambition, and our mentality".

• On this being his fourth game in two weeks and the fixture list: "It's a big challenge, but before I accepted the job, I knew that. I know that I don't have a lot of time to work in the training, but we have talent, we have quality, and I believe that."

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The draw for the Europa League last 16 has been completed with English sides Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest learning their opponents.

Villa will face Ligue 1 side Lille, playing the first leg in France, while Forest will play Danish side Midtjylland with the first leg at the City Ground.

It is the second time Forest will face Midtjylland this season after losing 3-2 at home in the league phase during the short-lived Ange Postecoglou era.

Villa faced Lille two years ago in a two-legged quarter-final in the Conference League, eventually progressing on penalties after some memorable antics from Emi Martinez.

The first legs will be played on Thursday, 12 March, with the second legs a week later.

If Forest win they would face Stuttgart or Porto in the quarter-finals.

Villa would come up against Bologna or Roma at that stage if they progress.

Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa could meet in the semis, as their ties are on the same half of the draw.

Read more about the draw here

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We asked for your views on Thursday's Europa League defeat to Fenerbache, with Forest progressing on aggregate..

Here are some of your comments:

Kris: First of all, we passed the play-off test, and it's job done. However, the second string again showed they can't turn in an A-grade performance. This was more of a D minus. If Mr M feels the need to sack someone this week, look no further than Edu. If his remit was to find the slowest, clumsiest striker he could, then he's a genius. Lucca has all of that in spades. If the aim was to resolve our woeful goal scoring, it's a grade F. Must do better.

Ben: Well, we're through, but not for the first time this season Forest made it unnecessarily hard for themselves. It is concerning how far off the pace back-up players are whenever they are called upon. I would love to know why McAtee is unable to show his undoubted quality in a Forest shirt. On we march, but with far less swagger than I was expecting.

Pete: What can I say about that? How we managed to scrape through is lucky. First half was a non starter. At least we are into the next stage.

Ian: Abject performance in the first half. I can understand why he had to make changes but Morato - dear me. Much better second half and had three clear-cut chances but we are still struggling in front of goal - a better team than Fenerbahce would have buried us tonight. Hope this manager can get things right otherwise we will be out of Europa League and relegated. We are so inconsistent and the passing tonight was dreadful until Sangare and Aina came on. Nervy times ahead I reckon.

Graham: Wasn't brill but it did not need to be. A much-changed side protected the aggregate score line. Our striker has no pace, can not hit a ball from range, has no poacher's instincts to tap one in, can't head a ball, does not know where to stand for dead balls and cannot hold the ball up for anyone else. Other than that how was the theatre Mrs Lincoln?

Peter: Forest deserve to go down. Awful football with lots of sloppy mistakes. Morato dreadful.

Liverpool are firmly in the frame for Nottingham Forest's 23-year-old Brazil defender Murillo, although Chelsea still lead the pursuit. (Teamtalk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

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Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira, speaking to TNT Sports: "When you change half of the team it is not easy to keep the level. It was my responsibility because we have an important game in three days. I decided to recover some players to have energy in the next game, but it is not easy when you change a lot.

"We conceded a goal and we lost the confidence to play. It was difficult for me to do four subs at the same time but I spoke to the players and said it was my decision and we needed to do it because the game came into a dangerous situation for us.

"They scored the second but then we started to play to our level. We scored. This is important to keep in our minds, Europa League is not easy. I know Fenerbahce very well and they came here to fight for the result.

"For me I know if you change five players you don't know what will happen. If we scored first maybe we get the confidence and we play with five new players on the pitch.

"With stress and pressure it was difficult for them to be themselves because they are not playing every match. In the end we are in the competition. In the second half we controlled the game and result, let's move forward."

Forest's goalscorer Callum Hudson-Odoi, speaking to TNT Sports: "I think we made it difficult for ourselves. Sometimes you know when you are in the lead and sometimes you are comfortable. We showed a great reaction after the second goal. The most important thing is that we are through."

Much needed half-time team talk?: "100%. It was needed to up the levels a bit more and focus on what we know more which is us playing football and the high press. We reacted very well.

"When the ball came I just looked at it and felt confident I could get a shot off. Happy with that.

"In situations like that when they get a couple of goals you have to calm the game down. We had to focus on what we know as best, trying to get the ball and trying to create chances. We have to keep working hard on the little things.

"Every game from now until the end of the season is a final for us. We have to be ready for every game and keep working hard."

Did you know?

• Vitor Pereira has become the second Nottingham Forest manager this season to lose his first two home games in charge, along with Ange Postecoglou. He's now lost four in a row at home in all competitions (also his last two at Wolves), his worst-ever run as a manager.

• Forest winger Callum Hudson-Odoi netted his first Europa League goal since scoring for Maurizo Sarri's Chelsea side against Dynamo Kyiv back in March 2019 in a last 16 match.

Listen to Pereira on BBC Sounds

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Nottingham Forest's performance

Come back on Friday for a selection of your replies

Nottingham Forest XI: Ortega, Morato, Murillo, Jair Cunha, Williams, Anderson, Dominguez, Hutchinson, McAtee, Yates, Lucca.

Subs: Gunn, Willows, Sangare, Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Ndoye, Igor Jesus,, Bakwa, Milenkovic, Aina, Abbott

Fenerbahce XI: Cetin, Muldur, Guendouzi, Demir, Brown, Aydin, Yuksek, Kante, Nene, Cherif, Akturkoglu.

Subs: Biterge, Ceylan, Asensio, Mercan, Semedo, Ekici, Uregen

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You can follow all the action and reaction to Nottingham Forest's Europa League play-off round second leg against Fenerbache across the BBC Sport app and website.

Thursday's live text will bring you every moment with kick-off at 20:00 GMT.

Vitor Pereira's side lead 3-0 from last week's first leg in Instanbul.