It’s crunch time for Nottingham Forest’s season as Vitor Pereira’s side prepare for a two-pronged assault in the coming weeks. Amid a rollercoaster of a campaign, the run-in approaches with much still at stake for the Reds. The class of 2025 have an opportunity to write their names into club history but also need to finish the job of securing Premier League safety. Friday night’s 5-0 rout of Sunderland moved Forest a step closer to achieving the latter, although they have plenty of work still to do. In the meantime, however, focus shifts to the quest for Europa League glory. Aston Villa visit the City Ground on Thursday (8pm kick-off) in the semi-final first leg, with the return fixture taking place at Villa Park a week later. It has the makings of being quite the occasion as a meeting between two clubs with European heritage. Ahead of this week’s game, NottinghamshireLive looks at some of the big talking points Trentside. WORLD CUP LEGENDS: The stars who lit up football’s greatest tournament – Buy the Special Edition today He has to, surely. As far as possible, I’d be tempted to go full-strength for every game between now and the end of the season – in Europe and in the Premier League. Why not? It is all to play for and these opportunities, to reach a European final, do not come around often. Likewise, staying in the top flight has to be a priority and the club are so nearly there with it. Forest have four league games remaining and a maximum of three left in the Europa League. They do not want to end this term with regrets, so utilising the best XI whenever possible has to be a consideration. Understandably, Pereira has concerns about the quick turnaround next week, from the game away to Chelsea on the Monday to the semi-final second leg on the Thursday. But park that for now, because he needs to make sure Forest are still in with a chance of progression when they go to Villa Park – team selection becomes less of a consideration next week otherwise. Deal with this week’s clash first – and to my mind that means going strong. Pereira will have little choice with some decisions. Murillo is expected to be out and there is concern over the fitness of Jair Cunha, which would mean Morato likely stepping in. Meanwhile, the head coach has used Stefan Ortega as his goalkeeper in Europe. Given the way he has played, sticking with the former Manchester City man in this tournament makes sense. Those calls aside, there is a lot to be said for continuity. The Reds have hit upon arguably their strongest set-up in the last couple of games, with Igor Jesus operating behind Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White on the left. Got to be a case of sticking with what has worked. JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Get all the Nottingham Forest latest via our Facebook page It won’t be good for the blood pressure, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if it does. Pereira was right when he cautioned the job was not done after a memorable evening in the north east. Wins for West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur the following day made it a case of “as you were” in the table, albeit with time running out for those below to overtake the Reds. We are down to four games remaining now so the margins are getting tighter. A two-game swing is still required for Spurs to go above Forest. The five goals and clean-sheet Pereira’s side racked up at the Stadium of Light did wonders for their goal difference, not to mention their confidence. This next round of fixtures could be where things get shaken up a bit, though. I’m not sure there will be a repeat of all three teams winning – know some have argued Leeds United and even Newcastle United could get dragged into the scrap but think there’s too much traffic between them and the dotted line for that. West Ham go to Brentford on Saturday, Spurs travel to Villa on Sunday, then Forest go to Chelsea on Monday. It won’t be decided one way or another over those fixtures but what happens this weekend could be crucial nevertheless. Wouldn’t rule out fingernails still being bitten come May 24th, though. There is still so much up in the air in terms of this season. Will the Reds be playing in the Championship or planning for another year of Premier League football? Will they be in the Champions League or needing to plot how to get back to being among the European places? Qualify for the Champions League and the squad would need a big reshuffle. The same would apply, just in a completely different way, if the worst happens and this season ends in relegation. There is bound to be interest in a host of Forest’s star men either way. Plenty of fans seem to have already made peace with Elliot Anderson’s likely departure, while Gibbs-White and Murillo also have their admirers. There has been speculation, too, about the likes of Neco Williams and Matz Sels. Forest didn’t get everything right last summer but keeping hold of Gibbs-White turned out to be one of their most important pieces of business. Perhaps that will be front of mind when it comes to this year’s dealings. Expect some fringe players to move on as part of any overhaul. I don’t think anyone is anticipating the club will take up the option to sign Lorenzo Lucca permanently, for example.