Forest 'excellent' but Villa semi 'still on a knife-edge'
[Getty Images] You can hear all the post-match reaction, analysis and interviews from Nottingham Forest's 1-0 Europa League semi-final first leg win over Aston Villa on the latest episode of BBC Radio Nottingham's Shut Up And Show More Football podcast. Former Forest man James Perch said: "Rip-roaring. The kind of game you expect from a semi-final where two teams are going at it hammer and tongs and nothing much is given either way.
"I just loved the intensity and battling tonight. There were big tackles and big impact all over the pitch. The amount of times Elliot Anderson won the ball back was frightening - he was magnificent tonight, the best player on a park full of top players.
"You want your top players to perform in a semi-final or final and show what they've got and the back four and goalkeeper were excellent tonight. "The semi-final is still on a knife-edge. It was basically our first XI and fair play to those lads who put a right shift in.
They played really well, without the ball for a lot of it as Villa tried to pull us around and get into little pockets. "They have some excellent players but a few long shots and that Watkins chance was all they had all night. We were playing a top team that will play in the Champions League next year and that's how you beat them.
"At the end of it something has to go your way and Lucas Digne took a risk and gave away the handball. Omari Hutchinson didn't give it up, asked the question, and got the reward. " Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.