Nottingham Forest manager Vítor Pereira has explained his decision to introduce Taiwo Awoniyi and Dan Ndoye during their goalless draw against Fulham at the City Ground.

Awoniyi was brought on in the 63rd minute, replacing Igor Jesus as Forest searched for a late breakthrough. 

The Nigerian striker nearly snatched the winner in the 88th minute after being played through on goal by Elliot Anderson, but his effort drifted wide of the target. 

Ndoye, who was introduced at the start of the second half in place of Nicolás Domínguez, thought he had broken the deadlock in the 63rd minute when he calmly finished past Bernd Leno, only for the goal to be ruled out by VAR for offside.

When questioned about the reason behind introducing Awoniyi and Ndoye, Pereira told reporters post-match: "I am a manager when I am looking the player inside, I know the ability of the player. Morgan is a top player and Elliot are top players."

"Even Dominguez was playing on a good level but in the end I need to do when I am seeing in the match."

He added that Forest needed players capable of creating or finishing situations in tight attacking moments.

"I need to help and think about the team. In the moment, we need in the last minutes, someone with one against two," he said. 

Awoniyi has endured a challenging campaign in the Premier League, struggling for regular playing time.

The 28-year-old has made 12 appearances across all competitions this season, scoring once and accumulating just 281 minutes on the pitch.

Adeyemi Adewale