Nigerian defender Ola Aina believes Aston Villa will be a formidable challenge for Nottingham Forest when the two sides clash in the semifinal of the UEFA Europa League later this month.
The Tricky Trees booked their spot in their first European last four appearance in 42 years after a 1-0 win over FC Porto on Thursday night sealed a 2-1 aggregate result.
Both sides played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg encounter and Morgan Gibbs-White first half goal was enough to send Forest into the semifinal ahead of Porto, who were reduced to 10 inside 10 minutes when Jan Bednarek was given his marching orders.
Aina enjoyed an impressive outing for the club and will now have another chance to impress on the big stage against familiar opposition.
Aina reacts to Nottingham Forest Europa League win over Porto
Speaking during an interview, Aina believes that Aston Villa, who thrashed Bologna 7-1 in their own quarter-final clash, will pose a difficult challenge for his side.
“At the beginning of the season, these are the sort of games you want to play in, so we have to soak everything up and try our best. It will be a tough game against Aston Villa, we already know how good they are. But for now, it’s about the next match on Sunday”, Aina admitted.
“We never made it easy for ourselves, but I cannot complain. We’re into the semifinals of the Europa League, so I’m happy with it.”
The Super Eagles defender also praised the team’s performance, putting aside their struggles this season to reach an European semifinal.
“It feels amazing after the season we’ve been having. Sometimes these rewards feel phenomenal, so I’m just happy to get into a semi-final with these boys, this club. Everybody deserves it”, the 29-year-old added.
“Yes, definitely. The character of the boys, and the quality as well, to be honest. We have the quality to do these types of things, so it’s definitely a testament to ourselves and the club.
There was a bit of confusion. Some of us wanted to settle the play, some wanted to get more goals, so it was just a bit of confusion. But the core thing was to work hard and sort it out — and that’s what we did,” Aina explained.
“The rest of the games are must-wins. Sunday, we are going in with full focus, and we’ll play just as tough and hard as we did tonight.”
Aina also hailed the fans support after the clash, which served as a major motivation for the players and has urged them to rally behind the team as they enter the final stretch of the season.
“That’s all we ask for, just to make noise, keep encouraging us and keep pushing us forward to do our best for the club. We are a bunch of guys that aspire to achieve things so hopefully we can keep pushing on and you never know where we’ll end up,” he concluded.
Nottingham Forest will shift their attention to the Premier League where they are currently facing a battle for survival, as they welcome Burnley to the City Ground on Sunday.
