Nottingham Forest managed to salvage a point against Derby County despite being second best for large parts of the game.
The latest instalment of the East Midlands derby threw up a usual dose of drama, with the Rams having a goal disallowed for offside with 10 minutes remaining.
The game started with Forest opting to go with a 4-4-2 formation and in truth, it didn’t really work for the Reds.
(Photo; Jon Hobley; MI News; NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Lewis Grabban and Lyle Taylor spent a large time isolated, although the ex-Charlton man did sting David Marshall’s palms early doors.
It was Derby who took the lead though. A clumsy foul on Jason Knight by Sammy Ameobi saw Martyn Waghorn crash his free-kick off the underside of the bar and into the net.
Graeme Shinnie should have doubled Derby’s lead shortly after, forcing a strong save from Brice Samba after Tobias Figueiredo had slipped at a crucial time.
Chris Hughton mixed it up at half-time, reverting back to a 4-2-3-1 with Anthony Knockaert coming on his debut at the expense of Grabban.
Instantly Forest gained a foothold in the contest and looked more likely going forwards.
Knockaert put some gorgeous deliveries into the box and highlighted exactly what he will bring to the Forest team.
His corner in the 64th minute found the head of Figueiredo who headed onto Ryan Yates and into the path of Taylor who fired home for his first Forest strike.
(Photo; Jon Hobley; MI News; NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The drama was still to come, however, and with 10 minutes to play, Forest had an offside flag to thanks for a share of the spoils.
Kamil Joswiak fired beyond Samba and as he was mobbed by his teammates his joy was to prove shortlived.
Waghorn was deemed to have been impacting the Forest goalkeeper from an offside position and the scores remained level.
The result keeps Forest unbeaten under Hughton with Luton Town next on the radar for the Reds.
Following the draw with Derby, we looked at the players’ performances and marked them out of 10.