Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira said it was a necessary risk to play a number of fringe players as his side survived a Europa League scare against Fenerbahce to book their place in the last 16.
Forest looked to have the job done in the play-off tie against the Turkish side after a handsome 3-0 victory in last week’s first leg in Istanbul.
But Kerem Akturkoglu’s double put Fenerbahce 2-0 up in the second leg at the City Ground as they threatened one of the great European comebacks.
However, Callum Hudson-Odoi’s second-half strike killed the tie and sent Forest through to a last-16 meeting with either Real Betis or FC Midtjylland, despite a 2-1 defeat on the night.
Pereira made six changes to his side as he prioritised Sunday’s Premier League clash.
“We were suffering a bit. But we are in the moment of the season that we need to think not about one game, but about two games, about the next game,” the Portuguese said.
“It was a risk because I decided to make six changes in the team. If you have one or two changes the players can be in the middle of the others, and you don’t miss the quality.
“But when you change six players they aren’t used to playing 90 minutes.
“This is the risk. I decide to take this risk. I decide because I need to think about the Brighton game, because it’s very important for us. We need to go there with fuel and energy.
“It is difficult to face them away. My decisions were not just about this game, it was worth thinking about the next game, and was a pity for me, because in my intention was to give confidence for everybody.”
Pereira had seen enough at half-time and made four substitutions, which helped his side gain some control in the second half.
“It’s difficult for a manager to do four subs,” he added. “It’s not about one player. I was not disappointed with one player, I was feeling that I need to do something to face the second half.
“It’s difficult to look in the eyes of the players and do four subs, but it is my life, it is my job and I did it.
“It’s like intuition. If you start to feel that we are not controlling the game, and we are in risk to not control the game in our way, you must do it. It is not about personal players.”
Fenerbahce gave Forest a scare and could have completed the comeback had they scored a number of first-half chances.
“We are proud of the way we played tonight, with personality,” boss Domenico Tedesco said.
“Tonight we played maturely, we had many, many opportunities. We have to accept, we are out of the competition, but at least with the head held high.”