Nottingham Forest face Midtjylland at the City Ground in the first leg of their last 16 Europa League tie
Nottingham Forest defender Jair Cunha against Fenerbahce(Image: Getty)
Winger Dan Ndoye has been ruled out of Nottingham Forest’s clash with FC Midtjylland.
The Reds welcome the Danish outfit to the City Ground on Thursday night (8pm kick-off) for the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie. Vitor Pereira’s side will be eager to end the evening in a healthy position ahead of the return leg seven days later as they target progress in the competition.
Head coach Pereira faces a difficult balancing act when it comes to his team selection, though. Forest want to go far in Europe but are also battling for survival in the Premier League and have a big game at home to Fulham on Sunday to consider.
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The hosts will be without wide man Ndoye in midweek due to injury. However, centre-back Jair Cunha will be available despite not training with his teammates on Wednesday morning.
“Jair is in. Dan, I believe, is out,” Pereira said. “They are not serious injuries, nothing special, but Dan cannot play tomorrow. Jair will be able to play tomorrow.”
Ahead of the game, goalkeeper Matz Sels has been reinstated into the Reds’ Europa League squad. The Belgian had been replaced by Stefan Ortega in the squad list for the previous round while he was sidelined with injury.
Ortega himself is now out of action. The winter window signing sustained a calf problem against Fenerbahce last month.
“Ortega may be a couple of matches out,” Pereira said. “Matz Sels will play tomorrow.”
Deciding whether to name a strong line-up from the start or rest some of his key men with the weekend in mind is the dilemma for Pereira. But the Portuguese insists he has the squad depth to cope with fighting on two fronts.
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“I need to try to balance, but try to be competitive in the next game and against Fulham,” he said in his pre-match press conference. “It’s important for the players to be ready to help the team. We need to be ready to perform and understand what is needed on the pitch.
“It is never easy but we have quality in the squad. They are working hard, with good energy and trying to understand the tactical demands. We will be ready.
“We cannot think about the opposition, we must think about ourselves and the next match. We just need to think about the next match, and after that it is about me; I need to balance the team to compete again after three days.
“I will try to do my best, try to keep the team competitive in both games. We have quality. It is just a matter of connecting them, organising them and giving them confidence to perform and be themselves. For now, we will try to be competitive in both – try to get points and get results in the Europa League and in the Premier League.”
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