Vítor Pereira has just terminated Nottingham Forest star’s contract over Dan Ndoye disallowed goal
Vitor Pereira reveals what he told James McAtee before subbing him on during Nottingham Forest draw
Nottingham Forest drew 0-0 with Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday, with James McAtee coming on for the closing stages.
Forest head coach Vitor Pereira was proactive with all of his substitutes, with two coming on at half-time with the score locked at 0-0.
One of them, Dan Ndoye, thought he’d won it for Forest when he raced onto a Neco Williams through ball to score, before VAR intervened and adjudged him to be marginally offside.
A surprise sub was the decision in the closing stages to throw McAtee on, and Pereira, it would seem, is a big fan of the former Manchester City man.
What Vitor Pereira told James McAtee before subbing him on vs Fulham
McAtee has barely played in the Premier League this season, and ultimately, he’s yet to justify his price tag to the Forest fan base.
The issue that the youngster has is that he plays in the same position as Morgan Gibbs-White, and given that he’s the top goalscorer, McAtee has found minutes hard to come by.
Pereira is a big fan, though, and he’s now shared what he told McAtee before he went onto the pitch for the closing stages of the contest.
He told Nottinghamshire Live: “McAtee is a player that, if he plays with confidence and what he does in training, he can do magical things. From nothing, he can create something special. In the last minute, I thought we would try with this kind of player because sometimes you can get a penalty or sometimes a situation one-vs-one. He has the quality to do it.
It’s not easy in five minutes, of course. He tried. I asked him to go and play with confidence. I wanted to see the same player I watched in training. We tried everything.”
McAtee should start Europa League clash
With Forest facing a crunch game against Tottenham in the Premier League next weekend, Pereira must make changes to his squad for the game against Midtjylland in midweek.
One of those should be McAtee, with the player craving minutes to try and gain some match sharpness that could be integral during the relegation run-in.
The former City attacker hasn’t just become a bad player but the lack of minutes has led to him looking rusty and lacking in match practice.
That should change on Thursday night and he deserves a chance to truly show Pereira what he’s capable of producing if given a chance in the starting eleven.
Vitor Pereira hasn’t publicly revealed what he told James McAtee before subbing him on during Nottingham Forest’s draw against Fulham. However, McAtee has been struggling for minutes since joining Forest from Manchester City, playing only 171 minutes of Premier League football this season ¹.
Pereira’s decision to substitute McAtee is likely linked to Forest’s current struggles, with the team scoring just once in their last 66 attempts. McAtee’s future at the club is uncertain, with several clubs, including Leeds, Chelsea, and Sunderland, monitoring his situation
