Forest hoping for medical magic for Gibbs-White before Europa showdown

He was left on the bench for the start of the Premier League win against out-of-form Chelsea

Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White during the warm up before the match. Reuters

Nottingham Forest coach Vitor Pereira said he hoped his medical team could work magic on Morgan Gibbs-White after the playmaker went off with a head injury in the 3-1 victory at Chelsea on Monday, three days before a Europa League semi-final.

Gibbs-White, who has been in blistering form, was left on the bench for the start of the Premier League win against out-of-form Chelsea which represented another big step for Forest towards avoiding relegation.

Brought on at halftime, the England midfielder provided the cross for Taiwo Awoniyi to score Forest's third goal in the 52nd minute. But he was withdrawn in the 66th minute after a clash of heads with Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez who also went off.

Pereira said he thought Gibbs-White, who has scored 10 Premier League goals and made three assists since the turn of the year, would not be prevented from lining up against Villa in Thursday's showdown for a place in the Europa League final, with Forest 1-0 up from the first leg.

"He is speaking normally, he is remembering everything," the Portuguese coach said, adding Gibbs-White had suffered a deep cut. Pereira said he was waiting for the verdict of the club's doctors who had hoped could work "magic" on him.

"He is a fighter," Pereira said.

He also said he did not believe that Zach Abbott would have any issues after a clash of heads with Chelsea Jesse Shaun Derry who was taken to hospital as a precaution.

The former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss, who was named Forest's fourth head coach of the current season in February, paid tribute to the spirit of his team who are now unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions.

He made eight changes to the side that started against Villa, leaving several key players on the bench, but they looked in control for almost the entire game against an error-strewn and characterless Chelsea.

"I can change the players but I will not change for sure the spirit of this team," Pereira said.

Forest now sit six points clear of the bottom three relegation spots in the Premier League.