Nottingham Forest 1-1 Wolves: Paul Williams and Kenny Jackett reaction

By PA Sport

Image: Wolves manager Kenny Jackett felt his side could have pinched a win

Gary Gardner netted a superb free-kick to earn Nottingham Forest a point in a 1-1 draw against Wolves but head coach Paul Williams revealed the midfielder was not even meant to take it.

The on-loan Aston Villa man ignored pre-match plans for Henri Lansbury to take set-pieces and bent an outstanding shot around the defensive wall and inside the post to cancel out Joe Mason's opening goal for Wolves.

Mason's 58th minute strike was far from shabby in itself, as he bent the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. But Gardner's strike, 10 minutes later, was of equal quality.

"It was a superb free-kick from Gary Gardner - and I did moan that Henri was not taking it, before he struck it," said Williams.

"But we give ownership to the players over that kind of situation. Henri was meant to take it but, if Gary felt he had a good chance of scoring, then there is no problem - Henri was clearly big enough to think of the team. Happily so.

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"The free-kick was the highlight of the game - that and the way the fans clapped the players off the pitch at the end. They were fantastic for us."

Highlights of the Sky Bet League Championship match between Nottingham Forest and Wolves

Williams felt Forest could have taken all three points, saying: "In the second half, we took the game to them and created chances. I thought we could have snatched it, but it was a fair result in the end.

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"We were at home and we had to try to win the game - but we did that. The players are just tired now, you can see it in their performance, because they looked leggy at times.

"We need one last push next weekend, we want to go into the last game and win it.

"We have not given the fans much to shout about this season, but hopefully the fans can see that there are a few building blocks in place for us to build on next season."

Image: Nottingham Forest interim boss Paul Williams

Wolves boss Kenny Jackett also felt his side might have sneaked three points but felt a lack of experience in his squad had made the difference.

He said: "Our players are motivated, they have not given up. If you look at the age and experience they have, the majority of them are on the way up in their careers, rather than on the way down.

"That is a plus for us, but we do look as though we lack some nous and experience in this division.

"Some of the top sides have that and we do not. We are also lacking a few options up front, which is a big thing for us, in terms of taking chances. I was pleased with the forwards, they played well. But we need more than that.

"We scored a very good goal and then had some very good opportunities to two goals ahead. If we could have got the second goal, we might have been able to see it through.

"I am frustrated with another draw, because we have had a lot of them recently. It is not a bad result for us, but we are frustrated that we did not get the win. Forest were more experienced than us and it showed."

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