Ola Aina explains what makes Nottingham Forest team-mate Morgan Gibbs-White such a special player ahead of crunch Aston Villa showdown

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Ola Aina hopes Morgan Gibbs-White's "terrific form" can give Nottingham Forest the edge in their UEFA Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa, with the Nigeria international admitting that he has dreamed of qualifying for next season's Champions League.

‘Someone's put a 50p in him’ – Ola Aina’s great analogy on ‘terrific’ Gibbs-White form

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Forest welcome Villa for an all-Premier League tie - live on TNT Sports and HBO Max - on Thursday night, with Gibbs-White looking to extend his recent goalscoring run.

The 26-year-old, who came close to a move to Tottenham Hotspur last summer, has scored 16 times in all competitions this season, including three goals in the Europa League, having struck the only goal of the game in the 1-0 win over Porto earlier this month.

The Forest star followed up his first-half effort against the Portuguese side with a hat-trick in the 4-1 victory over Burnley and a goal and an assist in last week's 5-0 win over Sunderland.

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Gibbs-White is expected to play a key role as the Tricky Trees seek to secure a first-leg advantage against the Villans in their pursuit of a first piece of European silverware since 1980 - with the eventual winners guaranteed of a place in the 2026/27 Champions League.

And Aina has praised the England international for his "terrific form" in the build-up to the Villa clash.

Speaking with TNT Sports, Aina said: "I feel like someone's put a 50p in him and he's just gone on his way.

Highlights: Gibbs-White leads Forest into semi-final showdown with Villa

Video credit: TNT Sports

"He's in terrific form and everyone knows what a player he is. There are certain games we just look to him to get us out of situations or even keep us in good situations. He's having a terrific end to the season, and hopefully, he can keep that going."

Aina's praise for Gibbs-White comes after head coach Vitor Pereira suggested that the Forest star deserves an England recall.

The former Wolves midfielder has been overlooked by Thomas Tuchel for the past two England squads, and it appears as though his World Cup dream is over.

Pereira, though, has urged Tuchel to reconsider, saying after the victory over Burnley: "He deserves that. This is just my opinion, but if I can give that, I think he deserves it, because he has the quality, he has the qualities of a leader.

"When things are not happening in the way that you want, when the team is struggling in the game, a lot of players could prefer to hide themselves, they do not want the ball.

"But Morgan wants the ball, he wants the responsibility, he wants to score goals, he wants to assist.

"When I told him that, when we are attacking, I wanted him to play in the pocket but, when we defend, he must defend on the side, it was not a problem for him. He understands the game. He has the spirit."

'That would be so good' - Aina on Champions League

Aina, meanwhile, conceded that he has been thinking about the potential prospect of playing in next season's UEFA Champions League should Forest go all the way and win next month's final in Istanbul on May 20, where Braga or Freiburg await.

"Obviously, with how everything has gone this season, to be in a semi-final is really a good feeling," he said.

"[Qualifying for the Champions League], that would be so good. It's stuff we all dream about, being in these types of settings and the magnitude of the game. It's definitely one I'm looking forward to.

"For me, it has crossed my mind, just thinking about that and how good it would be for the club as well. It has crossed my mind but we're taking it game by game.

"For this semi-final, it's just a bit of luck. The rub of the green. Hopefully, it rubs our way."

The Nigeria international went on to add that he believes that Forest have what it takes to stave off relegation.

A six-game unbeaten run, including three wins in their past four over Tottenham Hotspur, Burnley and Sunderland, has seen Forest open up a five-point gap between themselves and the bottom three.

Aina stated that the team are now "very confident" they will consolidate a Premier League spot.

"I think in the league the team has always had the confidence that we were never going to go down," he said. "There's still more work to do, so I don’t want to jump the gun or anything, but we’re very confident that we can do it."

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