Burton 0-0 N Forest: Nottingham Forest hold firm against Burton

The Sky Bet Championship's bottom side Burton failed to break down 10-man Nottingham Forest as a 0-0 draw at the Pirelli Stadium did little to improve the fortunes of either side.

Forest had to play for more than an hour a man down after American defender Eric Lichaj was given his marching orders for a poor challenge on Albion attacker Martin Samuelsen on 28 minutes.

There was little danger as the ball headed out towards the West Ham loanee on the touchline but Lichaj slid in with excessive force from behind, prompting referee Andy Davies to produce the red card.

Forest took off Joe Lolley to allow Ben Osborn to fill the gap at left-back. Lolley earlier had Forest's best chance of the first period, testing Stephen Bywater with a low shot from the edge of the box after good work from Matty Cash on the left.

Samuelsen dusted himself down from Lichaj's challenge to have Burton's best opportunities of the first half.

The Norway international got up well at the back post to head back across goal and wide of the post from a Jacob Davenport corner and then fired straight at Costel Pantilimon in the Forest goal after an intelligent knock-down from Darren Bent leading the Burton line.

Midfielder Hope Akpan also had opportunities to break his Burton duck, a towering header landing in the arms of Pantilimon early on before the former Blackburn man got caught in two minds at the back post heading a Samuelsen cross wide of the target.

Albion, looking to capitalise on their numerical advantage, started the second half brightly and both Akpan and Bent sent chances just over the bar in the opening stages.

Samuelsen forced Pantilimon into a save at full stretch low to his left as the home side cranked up the pressure and it needed an excellent block from Danny Fox to keep out Bent's goalbound shot after a searching cross from Albion substitute Joe Sbarra on 72 minutes.

Full-back Tendayi Darikwa almost grabbed an unlikely winner for Forest late on with a rasping drive from 25 yards as Aitor Karanka's men briefly broke free of their defensive shackles.

The result meant Albion's home frustrations continued, with no win on home soil now since September, and left Nigel Clough's side still three points adrift of safety, while Forest have now failed to find the net in eight of their last nine league outings.

The managers

Nigel Clough: "It's disappointing when you get the opportunity to play against 10 men for an hour but the difficulty for us, whether it is against 10 men or 11, is somebody producing that final bit of quality.

"That is all that is missing at the moment for us. Our last three performances have been very good and yielded just two points instead of maybe the six that they deserved.

"Compared to our last home performance here against Reading we have been excellent for the last three games."

Aitor Karanka: "I am proud of the team, especially after our last performance at home when we showed that we weren't at our best and showed a lack of confidence.

"Today, even with 10 men, the team has done really well. It is a day to be pleased because it gives us a good step for the future.

"With the injury to Worrall and Mancienne at the last moment I have had to change practically everything this week.

"Today is a point that maybe, people who have not seen the game think is not a good point, but for me, the effort and the performance of the players has been really good."

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