What Morgan Gibbs-White did when Nottingham Forest went 2-0 down sent clear message to Vitor Pereira

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Morgan Gibbs-White looked devastated as he sat on the bench watching Nottingham Forest lose 4-0 to Aston Villa in the Europa League.

The Reds were thrashed emphatically by a Villa side hellbent on saving their season after a few weeks of mediocre performances.

Although Gibbs-White was officially named as a substitute, he wasn’t ready to play, and the gesture from Vitor Pereira was more of a token one than anything that suggested he could play.

His collision with Robert Sanchez in Monday’s win over Chelsea robbed him of the chance to help Forest here, but that didn’t stop him from sending a message to Pereira when Villa went 2-0 up.

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Morgan Gibbs-White sent a resounding message to Vitor Pereira

The Forest number 10 cut a forlorn figure on the bench for the Reds, and in truth, it was hard to imagine that he would ever be introduced into the action.

Shortly after Emi Buendia had scored from the penalty spot, Gibbs-White left the bench and returned moments later with his boots and his match jersey.

At that point, fans must have been thinking that Gibbs-White was set to enter the fray and try once again to dig Forest out of a sizeable hole.

However, Pereira stood firm and chose not to unleash Gibbs-White, with the player remaining an unused substitute and looking disconsolate on the bench.

By fetching his boots and shirt, it was clear that Gibbs-White was ready to risk everything for the Forest cause, and it’s such a shame given the recent form that he wasn’t able to help the Reds.

Now, it remains to be seen when Forest fans will see Gibbs-White again, with Pereira needing to do an assessment of his squad ahead of Sunday’s match against Newcastle.