Nottingham Forest forced into late change just minutes before clash with Everton – after star hit with injury in the warm-up

Murillo has had to withdraw from the Nottingham Forest lineup to face Everton at Goodison Park this afternoon after suffering an injury just minutes before kick-off.

The Brazilian joined the side in the summer of 2023 at the end of Forest’s first season back in the Premier League.

He played 32 matches in the league last campaign and impressed the home faithful with his no-nonsense defending and entertaining attacking forays. 

The centre-back has been an ever-present at the heart of Nuno Espirito Santo’s defence this season, as his side have made a shock run into the Champions League spots.

He even scored his first goal for the club – an emphatic header in a 3-1 defeat at Newcastle last month. 

But the star will watch Forest’s clash at Everton this afternoon from the sidelines after picking up an injury in the warm-up. He has been replaced by Ramón Sosa in the starting 11. 

The Brazilian has been a popular figure since his arrival last year, marshalling a solid defence

He put in another assured display against Spurs on Boxing Day as Forest clinched a 1-0 victory

The centre-back was at the centre of a change in transfer policy after Forest recruited haphazardly upon promotion in 2022.

They have been much smarter since the summer 2023 window when Anthony Elanga, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Murillo and Nicolas Dominguez arrived for a joint total of about £40million. They would not listen to offers below that for any of those individuals now. 

Smart recruitment and Nuno’s inventive tactics have catapulted Forest into fourth, level on points with resurgent Chelsea and just one behind last year’s runners up Arsenal.

It all culminated in a memorable 1-0 victory over Tottenham on Boxing Day, which they were good value for. 

‘The fans should enjoy and enjoy this together,’ said Nuno after Anthony Elanga’s first-half goal won it, propelling them briefly into third and beyond last season’s total of 32 points before the turn of the year.

‘The table doesn’t mean anything. What’s beautiful is seeing the City Ground like this. The belief is here. What can I say about the fans? It is really special and now we start to see this bond which makes us stronger.’

Forest look increasingly sure of themselves. Comfortable in a system that suits their best players, happy to play on the break with a nice habit of toppling the big clubs that way.

They won at Liverpool and their latest trick was to condemn Spurs to a fourth defeat in five Premier League games, a sequence which piles a pressure on Ange Postecoglou.

Anthony Elanga (right) scored the only goal of the game as Nottingham Forest beat Spurs

Elanga watched on as his strike found its way into the bottom corner of the Spurs goal

Elanga’s goal in the 28th minute summed up the pattern of the game. Spurs dominated the ball. They passed and probed with no space in behind Forest, who were not only difficult to penetrate but also menacingly quick and direct on the turnover.

Neco Williams won the ball from Spence, and Morgan Gibbs-White collected his pass and drove out down the centre of the pitch before slipping a pass to his right, to Elanga who applied a confident finish, his third goal in successive games.

Tottenham rued some early opportunities they squandered. The first to Heung-min Son inside five minutes after a rare mistake by Murillo, who gave the ball to Dejan Kulusevski. Son could not find a way past Matz Sels. 

‘We cannot ignore Matz made huge saves to keep us in the game,’ said Nuno, whose goalkeeper frustrated Brennan Johnson on his latest return to the City Ground, with three excellent saves, the best of them with his right boot from close range, early in second half.

Forest were probably even stronger at the back in the second half and no less dangerous on the break. They were close to a second when Fraser Forster pawed a cross to Gibbs-White and made amends with a crucial block in the ensuring scramble.

Postecoglou made changes in search of inspiration, throwing on what creativity he had on the bench but his options are very limited. Nuno responded by taking off Elanga and switching to a back five and Forest closed it out to take the points without too much of a scare.