Nottinghamshire

Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira makes three changes for the Europa League semi-final first leg.

Jair Cunha misses out after being forced off in Friday's 5-0 win at Sunderland with Morato starting in defence.

Nicolas Dominguez replaces Ibrahim Sangare, with the midfielder also coming off at the Stadium of Light injured, while Stefan Ortega starts in goal.

Nottingham Forest XI: Ortega, Aina, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams, Dominguez, Anderson, Hutchinson, I.Jesus, Gibbs-White, Wood.

Subs: Sels, Willows, Lucca, Yates, McAtee, Bakwa, Abbott, Whitehall, Sinclair, Hanks, Blake.

Amadou Onana starts for Aston Villa having been a doubt with a knee problem which kept him out of Saturday's defeat at Fulham.

He replaces Lamare Bogarde in Villa's only change as they look to take a first-leg lead back to Villa Park next week.

Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Onana, Tielemans, McGinn, Buendia, Rogers, Watkins.

Subs: Bizot, Wright, Mings, Lindelof, Elliott, Garcia, Abraham, Sancho, Luiz, Maatsen, Bogarde, Bailey.

There are four semi-final first legs taking place in the Europa League and the Conference League on Thursday, and BBC Sport will be keeping you up to date.

Europa League:

• Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Sporting Braga v Freiburg

Conference League:

• Rayo Vallecano v Strasbourg

• Shakhtar Donetsk v Crystal Palace

Kick-off times 20:00 BST

Get in-depth coverage of Forest v Villa, plus updates from Braga v Freiburg here

And go here for live text commentary of Palace's game, plus Rayo Vallecano v Strasbourg updates

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Europa League commentary on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa".

Find out more about how to listen to football on BBC Sounds

Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina expects Thursday's Europa League semi-final "to be a cracker" and a showcase of competitive English football.

Forest host Premier League rivals Aston Villa in the first leg of the semi-finals, where Villa are winless in the past four seasons.

"It's massive," said Aina to BBC Radio Nottingham. "It's two historic clubs in Europe with competitive teams so it's going to be a cracker.

"It's going to be a tough game for both sides, but one that we will relish.

"We definitely need to be on top form and have the fans behind us. Hopefully then, we can get the results that we want.

"We are unfortunate where we have been this season in the table and I think we have just been unlucky. It's undeniable that we have fantastic players here.

"I feel like we can match most teams we come up against and that's the confidence that I have in my teammates and what we're doing here.

"We have the formula, but sometimes on the day you need a bit of luck so hopefully there is some."

Also hear Aina's interview with BBC Radio Nottingham on BBC Sounds

And listen to BBC Radio Nottingham from 18:00 BST for all the build-up to the semi-final with Colin Fray, James Perch and Steve Hodge

Image source, Getty Images

Vitor Pereira says he remembers Nottingham Forest "being one of the strongest teams in Europe" when he was growing up so to lead them into their fourth European semi-final is a special feeling.

"We have a chance to write our names into the history of this club," the Reds boss told BBC Radio Nottingham. "But I don't think about doing it for me.

"I think about our supporters because a lot of them don't really have the money to buy tickets, but they do it through sacrifice to come and support us.

"This is more to make them happy.

"I'm not at a stage of my career where I need titles to satisfy myself, but it is, of course, an honour to be here and get titles."

Pereira also acknowledged how for a whole generation this is the biggest night of the club's history as they face Aston Villa in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final.

"When I was a kid, I remember Forest being one of the strongest teams in Europe," he added. "It's important to go back in time and understand how big the club is."

He also said he takes inspiration from legendary former Forest boss Brian Clough, who won the European Cup twice with the club: "This week, I went into the city and saw a big statue of Brian Clough and he makes people feel proud."

Listen to Pereira's interview with BBC Radio Nottingham's Colin Fray on BBC Sounds or hit play below...

The latest news and views on Forest in two minutes, every weekday afternoon.

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Nottingham Forest striker Robert Earnshaw is expecting a "really interesting" Europa League semi-final between his old club and Aston Villa.

Despite a difficult season in which they have cycled through three permanent managers, Forest are unbeaten in six Premier League games and have moved five points clear of the relegation zone with four matches to play.

Villa have been plagued by inconsistency in recent months but are in a strong position to get a place in next season's Champions League through the Premier League table.

"The level at the bottom of the Premier League is very high right now and Forest show that," Earnshaw told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast.

"Last year they qualified for Europe and finished in the top seven but now they are fighting relegation and in the semi-finals of the Europa League.

"They are good enough and the quality of their players is good enough.

"Forest have hit form. In the last month they've been on fire. I think they will stay in the Premier League easily now, they've taken care of that. Now it's whether they can achieve history. If they beat Villa they are in the final of a European competition and that is so big for Forest.

"These two teams drew 1-1 not long ago in the league and you feel like between them it's always small little details in the game that changes things. That's how close they are.

"Villa will have an advantage because of Unai Emery's experience, but then you've got the unknown and nothing to lose attitude of Forest. It will be a really interesting tie.

"When you hit Europe everything is fresh. It's not the Premier League. There is pressure too for both teams in different ways."

Listen to the full chat from 08:20 on BBC Sounds

Explore more Nottingham Forest content on BBC Sounds

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Nottingham Forest landed the bargain of the season in Igor Jesus, according to former Botafogo boss Renato Paiva.

The striker is the Europa League's joint top goalscorer with seven going into Thursday's semi-final first leg against Aston Villa at the City Ground.

Forest paid Botafogo £10m for Jesus last summer and the 25-year-old has 15 goals.

Paiva said: "Pedro Ferreira [Forest's head of recruitment] worked with me at Benfica and he asked me about Igor and I said: 'Wow, my friend, he's an incredible player.'

"When we spoke about the price, I said: 'My god, this is very, very cheap.' Before the Club World Cup, even cheaper.

"He's a very complete player. The number nine I think all the coaches are searching for. He's the first guy that defends - you say to press and he presses, you say to close the spaces and he close spaces. He's a very clever guy and understands what the coaches want."

Forest struck a deal before the Club World Cup last year, with Jesus scoring in Botafogo's shock win over Paris St-Germain which Paiva masterminded, but his former manager believes it was an error from the Brazilians. The deal was eventually announced in July.

"It was a mistake to sell a player before the competition," said the former Benfica youth coach. "Strategically, it's an error. After the competition you probably will have better offers.

"But I understand sometimes this kind of business is defined by the timing."

Jesus has scored five in the Premier League this season, including two in his past two games - and Paiva believes Jesus could be key against top-flight rivals Villa.

"It's taken a little bit of time to adapt. The most curious thing, when you try to analyse since he arrived, are his numbers in the Premier League and his numbers in the Europa League," he said.

"Probably the Europa League is not so demanding as the Premier League.

"Against Aston Villa, it's a different environment. It's a very difficult game for Nottingham Forest and for Igor.

"Aston Villa are one of the best teams of the Premier League, with one of the best coaches in the world - but this is not the Premier League, it's the Europa League and Igor can surprise us with another very good performance."

Manchester United do not want to get into a bidding war for Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Elliot Anderson, 23, who is also a target for Manchester City, and could turn to other targets such as Brighton's Cameroon international Carlos Baleba. (ESPN, external)

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