Vitor Pereira’s Nottingham Forest host Fenerbahce in the second leg of their Europa League play-off on Thursday
Nottingham Forest head coach Vitor Pereira looks on as Morgan Gibbs-White takes part in training(Image: Getty)
In his first interview as Nottingham Forest head coach, Vitor Pereira spoke about joining a family.
The Portuguese knows unity and togetherness will be key for the Reds in the final furlong of the season. And those qualities were evident as they took to the training pitch ahead of Thursday night’s clash with Fenerbahce (8pm kick-off).
Before their warm-up started at the Nigel Doughty Academy, Forest players and coaching staff gathered in a huddle. They then formed a tunnel for Igor Jesus to run through, with the Brazilian striker getting pats on the back as he did so in recognition of his birthday.
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Then it was down to business. There will be no room for complacency among Pereira’s charges at the City Ground.
They hold a 3-0 advantage ahead of their Europa League play-off second leg and their Turkish opponents have been hit hard by injury going into this week’s game. Even so, the hosts will not be taking anything for granted as they target a place in the last 16 of the competition.
The Reds’ injured contingent were absent from training on Wednesday morning. There was no Matz Sels, John Victor, Nicolo Savona or Chris Wood.
The latter recently said he had been given the green light to step up his recovery. Given he did not join in with his teammates on a sunny, spring-like morning, though, it appears he will not be returning to the fray just yet.
In a change to some of his predecessors, Pereira allowed music to blast out from a speaker as Forest were being put through their paces. It added an energy to training – akin to what the manager wants to see from his team on the pitch.
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Pereira’s predecessor, Sean Dyche, had a pre-training routine of yelling “mount” in a cue for players to jump onto each other’s backs. It was no doubt intended as a lighthearted moment geared toward creating team spirit before the real action started.
Pereira is equally big on forging bonds, but there was no room for such gimmicks on this occasion. Plenty of shouts of “let’s go, let’s go” could be heard from the group, though.
Media were permitted to attend the open training session for 15 minutes. Several members of the Turkish Press were in attendance, showing there remains no shortage of interest in the tie from Fenerbahce’s end.
Given Forest’s struggles in front of goal, there will surely have been some shooting practice at some stage. Solving the Reds’ goalscoring issues will be crucial for Pereira in the scrap for Premier League survival; before then, there is a Europa League tie to win.