Nottingham Forest ran out comfortable winners in the FA Cup on Saturday against Luton Town, but perhaps the best news of the day came in the form of Danilo’s return from injury.

Forest beat Luton 2-0 on Saturday afternoon, reaching the fourth round of the FA Cup in relatively routine fashion whilst not using the majority of Nuno Espirito Santo’s starting XI.

Ryan Yates opened the scoring with a well-placed header before Ramon Sosa and Jota Silva combined for the Paraguayan winger to add the second goal.

Sosa was particularly impressive against Luton, but the most important moment of the match came in the form of a second-half substitution.

Brazilian midfielder Danilo made his long-awaited return to the Forest squad for the final five minutes against Luton, leading to fellow Brazilian Murillo posting a heartwarming message on social media.

Murillo supports Danilo in emotional social media post

The City Ground was singing Danilo’s name throughout the second half as they patiently waited for his return to action, eventually coming when he replaced James Ward-Prowse in the closing minutes.

The moment was clearly as important to Murillo as it was to the Forest fans, with the defender taking to social media after the game to post a message of support for his compatriot.

Murillo said: “Happy to see you back, brother. May it be a blessed new beginning, I love you.”

The camaraderie in the Forest squad will be something that Espirito Santo greatly appreciates, as his side looks to cement their third-place position in the Premier League table. It won’t just be Danilo’s importance off the field that helps, though, when analysing his stats from last season.

Danilo can impact Nottingham Forest’s season

Yates and Elliot Anderson have built a very strong partnership in Espirito Santo’s midfield but Danilo’s stats from last season show where he will be able to impact the Forest squad.

In the Premier League last season, Danilo completed 2.26 long balls per 90 minutes for Forest, almost as many as both Yates and Anderson combined this season which will greatly improve Forest’s ability to counterattack quickly.

Danilo was also only dispossessed 0.65 times per match last season which is again lower than Yates and Anderson, proving that the Brazilian can provide an extra level of control to the midfield in tighter games.

His form was so impressive last season that Manchester United enquired about Danilo in the summer transfer window, showing just how talented and important he could be to the Forest coaching staff in the coming months.