Vitor Pereira has called upon his depleted Nottingham Forest team to stay united as they look to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. 

Forest arrive at MCH Arena for the second leg of their last 16 tie with Midtjylland 1-0 down after Cho Gue-Sung's 80th-minute headers sealed the victory for the Danish side. 

This will be Forest's first trip to Denmark in major European competition – they have suffered late defeats in their two Europa League losses to Midtjylland already this season. 

Pereira's side are handed just a 19% chance of reaching the last eight by the Opta supercomputer, while their 2% probability of winning the title is only higher than Lille's 1%. 

And they arrive into the clash with several injuries within their side, though the Forest boss insisted the togetherness of the players can help them overcome the task at hand.

"We need to see the team united. Everyone was in a condition to help," Pereira told reporters.

"We don't have a big squad – it means that it is important tomorrow that we feel like we are together in this game to try to get a result to qualify.

"Midtjylland is a strong team and physical. We create a lot of chances to win the game [in the first leg], and we believe that we have the quality to play here and win the game."

Forest lost the first leg of a two-legged major European knockout stage tie at home for only the second time, but will have confidence of overturning that deficit. 

They progressed through the other – they lost 1-0 to Berliner FC Dynamo in the 1979-80 European Cup first leg, but won the second leg 3-1 en route to winning the competition. 

And they may be even more confident of doing that with Chris Wood within their ranks, with Pereira confirming the striker took part in training ahead of Thursday's contest.

Wood, who netted 20 goals in 36 Premier League appearances in 2024-25, has not featured since October having undergone surgery to repair a serious knee injury. 

"I don't want to push him, but I think he will be able to help us in the last few games [of the season]," Pereira said of Wood's potential involvement in the second leg. 

"He is important for the group. He is important because he has quality. He scores goals, and he has the personality to help us."