Nottingham Forest 1-1 Stoke City (EFL Championship) 24.04.21

A point shared at the City Ground was enough thanks to other results, to secure the Reds status in the Championship for next season but Forest will be disappointed, after coming from behind against Stoke, that they could not finish things off for a first victory in four matches by beating opponents who themselves are playing the season out in mid-table with nothing but pride left to play for.

Forest might have had an early lead when Lewis Grabban cut in from the right only to drag a shot wide of the target before Stoke converted their best opportunity of the half to go into the break with slender advantage, a stunning left footed cross by Josh Tyman low into the path of Rabbi Matondo who raced through to trickle the ball over the line on 27 minutes.

The lively looking Grabban might have had a penalty claim as he felt that Harry Souttar’s arms were all over the Reds no7 after playing a one-two with Knockaert but the Referee waved away the Forest shouts which fell on deaf ears.

Five minutes into the second half however Grabban did get some luck, a right-wing centre by Knockaert bouncing off the head of a defender into the strikers path who tapped home from close range the Reds leveller.

The 33-year-old frontman might have snatched victory too, a smart move with Knockaert after a quick throw in found him in space at a tight angle but his low shot was well saved by the feet of Adam Davies before James Garner blazed over the rebound.

After the match, Forest Manager Chris Hughton stated “I thought there were a lot of good things in the performance”

Furthering “I thought in the first-half period, their goal was the one opportunity that they had. Credit to them for that but we should have been ahead before that.”

“What I was most delighted with was the attitude in the second half. I thought we gave it a really good go, we needed that second goal and on the balance of play and the possession of play we had, we needed to find that formula. It was a game we deserved to win but if you aren’t putting the ball in the back of the net it becomes harder.”

Forest next face a trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday where a win for the Reds could relegate the Owls to League One, the week after Chris Hughton’s men will wrap up the campaign with the visit of Preston North End.

Nottingham Forest: Samba, Christie, Worrall, McKenna, Ribeiro, Yates, Garner, Cafu (Mighten 69), Krovinovic, Freeman (Knockaert 37), Grabban.

Stoke City: Davies, Smith, Batth, Souttar, Norrington-Davies, Mikel, Clucas, Thompson, Matondo (Vokes 90), Tymon, Fletcher (Brown 60).

Venue: City Ground

*Main image @NFFC Lewis Grabban scores Forest’s equaliser at the City Ground.