Awoniyi and Sterling both double up as Nottingham Forest save point at Chelsea

At the end, Nottingham Forest did not know whether to celebrate the comeback or rue their wastefulness. This was only their seventh away point this season and they earned it the hard way. There had been a rare burst of life from Chelsea and two smart goals from Raheem Sterling. Forest were having none of it, ending Frank Lampard’s hopes of a second consecutive win when Taiwo Awoniyi headed in his fourth goal of a highly productive week.

If there is a worry for Steve Cooper, though, it will be that his side’s failure to secure a second away win since promotion could come back to haunt them. It had the feel of a missed opportunity. Forest led early on, Awoyini punishing an Édouard Mendy mistake, and could have moved five points clear of the bottom three. Chelsea were there for the taking.

There was a sense that Cooper knew a chance had slipped away when Forest failed to send the substitute Brennan Johnson through deep into added time. The right pass and Johnson would have had a chance to lift the pressure before next week’s home game against Arsenal. As it is Forest may need something when they return to London to play Crystal Palace on the final day.

They would have loved to take advantage of Leeds failing to beat Newcastle earlier in the day. There was no timidity. Down on the touchline Lampard could soon be seen shaking his head. There were five changes from Chelsea, some of them enforced, but little cohesion. Forest, using an unconventional 5-2-2-1 system, easily squeezed the space.

It seemed Cooper had overthought his system by dropping Johnson so that Joe Worrall could start in central defence. Johnson played well when Forest beat Southampton last Monday. Yet Cooper wanted more solidity. Serge Aurier and Renan Lodi