Porto 1-1 Nottingham Forest: Vitor Pereira concedes his priorities are clear after decisions made during first leg of Europa League quarter-final

Vitor Pereira has admitted that his priorities lie away from the Europa League despite Nottingham Forest's 1-1 draw at Porto on Thursday night.

The East Midlands outfit made the trip to Portugal looking to secure an advantage from the first leg of their quarter-final tie.

However, they had to be content with a 1-1 draw at Estadio do Dragao, with a bizarre own goal from Martim Fernandes two minutes after William Gomes' opener securing a share of the spoils.

While the majority of Forest supporters will be satisfied with the result, questions were naturally asked about Pereira's decision-making.

Key defenders Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic were limited to 45 minutes each, while Morgan Gibbs-White was withdrawn after 61 minutes.

An astonishing Fernandes own goal gifts Forest an equaliser ?

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Pereira aiming for "balance" with Forest

Speaking to TNT Sports, Pereira - who was facing one of his former clubs - talked up the positives of the result against the Primeira Liga leaders.

Furthermore, he stressed the need for "balance" when Forest need to do everything possible to retain their Premier League status.

The Portuguese said: "A good result in my opinion. To face two competitions we need to play with everyone. The players that started today did good work. In the end, 1-1, the game is open to play at home and decide qualification.

"Porto playing at home are a strong team. They have momentum with supporters. Forest I try to balance the two competitions, it was very clear we played with nine different players to the last game.

"I think we did well. The players tried everything. 1-1 is a good result and playing at home we will see what we can do."

He added: "The first two subs we did I was thinking about the next game against Villa. It's very important for us to get points in the league and this is the only way."

Pereira taking right approach with Forest schedule

With Forest only three points clear of the Premier League relegation zone, Pereira had little choice but to think about Sunday's fixture against Aston Villa.

Nevertheless, Forest possess the kind of squad-depth in some areas where they are not necessarily overly-weakening their team.

If Forest can overcome Villa at the City Ground, it would give Pereira greater leeway to go full-strength in the second leg versus Porto.

At a time when supporters are also dreaming of Champions League football for 2026-27, Pereira will not be criticised for trying to use his senior players in as many European games as possible.