Morgan Gibbs-White missed a penalty as Nottingham Forest were held in the Europa League to a 0-0 draw against Sturm Graz.
There was a clear eye from Sean Dyche on Sunday’s Premier League game with Leeds United at the City Ground as he made seven changes to the side that drew 2-2 with Manchester United, including leaving out Elliot Anderson, Matz Selz and Murillo.
In a game of few openings where the hosts only posted three shots, Forest created the better chances, but Gibbs-White was denied from 12 yards by goalkeeper Oliver Christensen, while Nicolas Dominguez was denied a winner in stoppage time by the crossbar.
Nikola Milenkovic goes down when challenged by Emir Karic
Ryan Yates, who had earlier seen a close-range header cleared off the line, also spurned a great opportunity just after the break when nodding wide from a Gibbs-White cross.
As for the Austrian champions, the closest they came to finding the back of the net was when Forest’s back-up Brazilian goalkeeper John Victor spilled a first-half shot, only for Maurice Malone to be in an offside position before tucking home the rebound.
The result means Dyche has only lost one of his four matches in charge of Forest and they have yet to concede a goal in European football on his watch following their 2-0 win over Porto.
Neco Williams gets his pass away despite pressure from Arjan Malic
And with 10 points enough for teams to make the knockouts last season, the new Forest boss will still be confident of seeing his side – who currently have five points – progress from the league phase.
