A tale of two Morgans: why Gibbs-White and Rogers hold the key to Villa and Forest’s European dreams

For a season of so many zeniths and dreams, it has been quite the week of doom and gloom for Aston Villa and their manager Unai Emery . Three defeats on the spin, including a wretched home defeat to Tottenham on Sunday, is glaring in its pecularity when you consider their position in the table (fifth, on course for Champions League qualification) and their impressive run in Europe. Yet the contrast to tonight’s visitors, Nottingham Forest , is stark.

Vitor Pereira – Forest’s fourth manager this season – is riding high on a five-game winning streak, the last of which came on Monday as a second-string side dismantled Chelsea in west London, to put them a step closer to Premier League safety. Forest are unbeaten in 10, dating back to mid-March. The Portuguese coach has made quite the impact.

And yet, for both sides, a place in the Europa League final could come down to a story of two 10s. And two Morgans at that. Morgan Gibbs-White (left) and Morgan Rogers are the standout playmakers for Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, respectively (Getty) Gibbs-White suffered a facial injury against Chelsea and is 50/50 for Thursday’s second leg (Getty) “It’s a big question… I really don’t know,” came Pereira’s answer on Wednesday, when asked about the health of his star playmaker, Morgan Gibbs-White .

Arguably English football’s most in-form player, the 26-year-old suffered a ghastly cut to his forehead at Stamford Bridge. With no concussion protocols at play, simply a matter of whether the wound will heal in time, Gibbs-White could wear a face mask on Thursday night to take part in Forest’s biggest continental match in 46 years. “[He is in] pain for sure,” Pereira added.