Super Eagles defender, Ola Aina, has called on the Nottingham Forest supporters to raise the atmosphere at the City Ground ahead of their UEFA Europa League semi-final first-leg clash against Aston Villa.
Forest face their Premier League rivals on Thursday night in the opening leg of a two-legged tie that will decide who advances to the final in Istanbul in May.
Both clubs carry rich European pedigree, with Forest famously winning consecutive European Cups in 1979 and 1980, while Villa lifted the trophy in 1982.
Huge Test For Forest
Aina believes Forest will need to be at their very best to get past Unai Emery’s side, but remains optimistic that home support could make a decisive difference.
“Two historic clubs in their own rights in Europe, two competitive teams. It’s going to be a cracker and a tough game for both sides, but one that we will all relish,” Aina told the club’s official website.
“We need to be on top form and we’ll need the fans behind us, and hopefully we can get the result that we want.
“It’s undeniable that we have fantastic players here and we’re able to match most teams, if not every team that we come up against. That’s the confidence I have in my teammates and in what we’re doing.
“I feel like we can go into any game and give a good account of ourselves and definitely do things to win games. We’ve got good wingers, good midfielders, good defenders and good forwards.
“We have the formula; just on the day we need that luck.
“I feel like we’ll get a different Aston Villa than we played a few weeks ago, but the goal is the same; we’ve got to go out there to win a game of football. We’re just going to give our best and hopefully, when the final whistle goes, it’s a fantastic result for us.”
Aina Rallies Supporters
The defender also stressed how crucial the fans will be in pushing the team forward, urging them to create a strong atmosphere for the European semi-final.
“They’ll help us a lot, we need them to crank it up for us and we need to hear them throughout the whole game because they do drive us forward a lot,” added Aina.
“They should get the volume up in the City Ground. It’s a semi-final of a European competition, so we might as well have fun while we’re here, which is what we’re all looking forward to.”
