Nottingham Forest will give Morgan Gibbs-White as much time as possible to prove his fitness ahead of the Europa League semi-final second leg at Aston Villa. The midfielder sustained a sickening cut to his forehead during Monday's impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea, which forced him off in the second half.
There are no concussion protocols regarding Gibbs-White's injury; rather, the concern is whether the wound will heal sufficiently for him to be involved as Forest attempt to book their first European final since 1980. Manager Vitor Pereira confirmed that the club has had headwear made for the 26-year-old in case he can play at Villa Park, where Forest hold a 1-0 first-leg advantage.
Asked about Gibbs-White's condition, Pereira said: "With pain for sure. We will see until tomorrow if he is able or not. It's a big question. This is not a question for me; it's a decision between the player, the medical department, and myself, but we haven't had the last meeting to decide. I really don't know about Morgan; the doubts that you have are the same doubts that I have. We need to have a meeting today, see until tomorrow, and we see what we can do. But if Morgan cannot play, we start with 11. He is a very important player for us, but we are ready to face this match."
Pereira added: "I honestly hope he can play and he can help us tomorrow, but in case it's not possible, we'll play with another one, and this one, for sure, will try to be the best player on the pitch."
Forest have injury concerns over several players, with Ibrahim Sangare, Ola Aina, Murillo, and Dan Ndoye all missing recent matches. "Because I have more doubts about the injured players, I will delay decisions, but in my mind I have plan A, B, and C," Pereira said. "We have a lot of doubts. I think today we'll have a meeting and decide to look for the army and to understand the soldiers. To go into the battle, I prefer to go with the healthy soldiers. We'll see."
Forest are 90 minutes away from reaching their first European final since Brian Clough led the Reds to successive European Cup triumphs in 1979 and 1980. They are unbeaten in 10 matches and face a Villa side that has lost its last three games and was booed off on Sunday.
Pereira said: "We try our best not to carry the weight of the trophy in our bag. It is a match to enjoy. A match to give everything; the pressure is to be the best version of ourselves. This is the pressure that we need to put on every game. This is a game not to think about glory, but to think about feeling proud of our work, to feel proud of ourselves, the way that we compete, the way that we fight for each ball, the way that we have personality to play, to face the atmosphere. We speak a lot about the glory, but I don't feel anything. I just want to be calm."
