Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Andy Reid believes Ola Aina was unfortunate not to score during Forest’s defeat to FC Midtjylland in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night.

A late goal from Cho Gue-sung ensured the Danish side claimed an important victory away from home.

Ola Aina came close to opening the scoring in the first half when he unleashed a powerful strike from around 30 yards. 

His effort forced a strong save from the goalkeeper, who could only parry the ball into the path of Igor Jesus, but the forward failed to convert the rebound.

Aina nearly found the breakthrough again shortly after the restart, only to see his effort inadvertently blocked by teammate and England international Morgan Gibbs-White.

Reacting to the moment, Reid admitted that the Nigerian international needed a bit of luck to get on the scoresheet for Forest on the night.

"You don't want to be relying on luck either, but it does play into it a bit. There's probably not that little bit of luck coming at the minute," Reid told TNT Sport.

"You saw the chance that got cut back, Ola Aina takes a shot and it gets blocked by Morgan Gibbs-White. So a little bit of luck can be needed, and it can be helpful.

"You come off and you're disappointed, but there's still a lot of positivity."

Meanwhile, Aina will be disappointed with his role in the decisive goal in the closing stages of the match.

Aina momentarily lost concentration, allowing Cho Gue-sung to get ahead of him and head the ball past goalkeeper Matz Sels, much to the frustration of the home supporters.

The Forest fullback, who has been a key figure for the club this season, will be eager to put the setback behind him and deliver another solid performance when Forest face Fulham in their next fixture.

Adeyemi Adewale