Pereira: Forest must play with confidence to overcome scoring struggles

Vitor Pereira insisted that he will continue to allow his Nottingham Forest team to play with freedom despite their recent struggles in front of goal coming back to haunt them.

Pereira’s comments came after his team were beaten 1-0 by Midtjylland in the first leg of their last 16 tie in the Europa League, a game that saw them miss several chances.

Forest registered an expected goals (xG) total of 1.72 from their 22 shots compared to Midtjylland’s 0.69 from their six attempts, with Cho Gue-Sung’s late goal proving to be the difference ahead of next Thursday’s second leg.

Across their last four matches at the City Ground in all competitions, Forest have had 88 shots, an xG of 6.44 and 126 touches in the opposition box – they have scored just once.

In addition, Forest have converted just 8.6% of their shots in all competitions this season, which is the lowest ratio of any Premier League side in 2025-26, though Pereira said he would not revert from the style of play he has recently introduced at his new club.

“I encourage that every day in training because I want to see my players have confidence to shoot, to create, to express themselves and to enjoy what they are doing,” he said.

“In the end, it is about winning. On Thursday, we were missing the result. With the rain, and against a physical and strong team, the only thing I am not happy about is the result.

“I believe that to win, you need to play good football, not concede goals and try to score the chances we create.

“Even if we create only five or six chances in the next match, it is important to score one or two and not concede. But football is about working, working.

“The players want to score, and sometimes they don’t make the best decisions with the last pass or the finishing. I know the way to increase the level is by working.

“Working is not about speech, it is about gaining confidence.”

1 – Nottingham Forest’s last four games at the City Ground:

88 shots
126 touches in the opposition box
6.4 xG
…
1 goal scored

Misfiring. pic.twitter.com/feGP5Lq8ie

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 12, 2026

Forest will be hoping to rediscover their scoring touch at home to Fulham this Sunday, with Marco Silva’s side aiming to continue their push for a spot in Europe next season.

The Cottagers are 10th in the Premier League after a defeat to relegation-threatened West Ham last time out, while also exiting the FA Cup at the fifth round to Southampton.

Both of those defeats came without talisman Harry Wilson in their ranks, with the Wales international sustaining an ankle injury in Fulham’s 2-1 win over Tottenham.

Silva did, however, reveal that Wilson could make his return to the side for Fulham’s trip to the City Ground, though did not mention whether that would be from the start.

“Yes, Harry Wilson is going to be, probably, in contention for the game,” Silva revealed.

“As you know, we have another session before the game, and we have to assess one or two players.

“We still have some doubts if they are going to be ready or not, or fully fit for the game, but Harry Wilson looks as if he is going to be ready.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Nottingham Forest – Morgan Gibbs-White

Morgan Gibbs-White netted his 25th Premier League goal for Forest against Man City last time out, overtaking Bryan Roy (24) and now only Chris Wood (37) is ahead of him with more goals for the Tricky Trees in the competition.

He has a team-high 10 goal contributions (eight goals, two assists) for Forest in the league this season, with his 44 chances created also more than any other player for the club.

Fulham – Raul Jimenez

Having scored two goals in his last three Premier League outings, Raul Jimenez will be confident of keeping that run going against his favourite opponents in the top flight.

The Mexican has either scored or assisted a goal in all four of his Premier League appearances against Forest (four goals, one assist), averaging a goal involvement every 65 minutes against them.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Forest have won one of their seven Premier League games against Fulham (L6), a 3-1 home win in April 2024, though they have struggled at the City Ground of late.

Indeed, Pereira’s side are winless in their last six Premier League home games (D3 L3), last going longer without winning on home soil in the top-flight in April 1999 (16).

The Tricky Trees also have the lowest shot conversion rate of any side in the league this season (7.5%). Forest rank in the top 10 for total shots (373), but only bottom side Wolves (22) have scored fewer goals (28).

Fulham, meanwhile, have won six of their seven Premier League games against Forest (L1), their highest win rate against any side they’ve faced more than twice (86%).

The Cottagers have, however, won four and lost five of their last nine top-flight games. They lost 1-0 to West Ham last time out, but have not failed to score in consecutive league games since May 2024.

Only Man City (514), Chelsea (469) and Liverpool (465) are averaging more successful passes per game than Fulham (401) in the Premier League this season. Only in 2023-24 (404) have they averaged more completed passes per game in a top-flight campaign on record (since 2003-04).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Nottingham Forest – 36.5%

Draw – 26.2%

Fulham – 37.3%