Steve Cooper made three changes to his starting line-up tonight as Nottingham Forest played at the Amex Stadium for the first time since August 2016 with Serge Aurier, Orel Mangala and Jesse Lingard entering the fold in place of Harry Toffolo, Cheikhou Kouyate and Emmanuel Dennis on a clear autumnal evening on the South coast.
The first ten minutes of this evening’s match passed by quietly, with The Seagulls showing more quality in possession of the ball without troubling The Reds' backline who remained resolute throughout the opening stages.
Dean Henderson saw the first attack on his goal when Leandro Trossard shuffled the ball on to his stronger right foot on the edge of the area and rifled a shot towards the target, but Henderson was on hand to tip the ball over his crossbar for a Brighton corner.
Joel Veltman had a clear opportunity to open the scoring when Forest failed to clear their lines following a Brighton corner, the ball fell to him unmarked just eight yards from goal but Veltman only managed to blaze his effort well over the bar.
The travelling Reds remained under pressure throughout the first half, with Trossard finding himself in the midst of the action once again when a ricocheted ball fell to him on the edge of the box but his driven effort could only rattle the crossbar.
Solly March was next to test Henderson when he cut into the box on the right-hand side but the England international was on hand once again to tip the ball round the post.
Half time: Brighton 0-0 Forest
Forest had their first real chance of the evening just shy of the hour mark when Gibbs-White's ball over the top found Brennan Johnson on the right-hand side. He was able to cut inside but his left-footed effort couldn’t trouble Sánchez in the Seagulls net.
The Reds defended adequately throughout the second half as the game remained a stalemate but struggled to gain any momentum in the opposition half.
Henderson produced heroics in the 81st minute when he spectacularly stopped the close-range effort of Pascal Groß when the ball seemed destined to ripple the back of the net.
In a final roll of the dice and attempt to steal three points The Reds introduced Joe Worrall, Taiwo Awoniyi, and Premier League debutant Giulian Biancone in the closing stages.
Full time: Brighton 0-0 Forest
Brighton: Robert Sanchez, Joel Veltman, Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster, Solly March, Adam Lallana (Tariq Lamptey 64’), Alexis Mac Allister, Moisés Caicedo, Leandro Trossard, Pascal Groß (Deniz Undav 84’), Danny Welbeck.
Substitutes not used: Jason Steele, Julio Enciso, Ed Turns, Billy Gilmour, Pervis Estupiñan, Kaoru Mitoma, Jeremy Sarmiento
Forest: Dean Henderson; Serge Aurier (Harry Toffolo 68’, Giulian Biancone 86’), Steve Cook, Scott McKenna, Neco Williams; Remo Freuler, Ryan Yates (C), Orel Mangala (Cheikhou Kouyaté 61’) ; Morgan Gibbs-White, Jesse Lingard (Worrall, 86’), Brennan Johnson (Taiwo Awoniyi 86’)
Substitutes not used: Wayne Hennessey, Sam Surridge, Emmanuel Dennis, Willy Boly