Derby and Nottingham Forest shared the honours in a full-blooded East Midlands derby.

It was the first clash between the two rivals since April 1999, and a draw was a fair result in the pressure cooker atmosphere at Pride Park.

Forest's David Johnson was unfortunate when his 19th-minute strike was wrongly ruled out for offside as the visitors dominated the first half.

But Derby came back strongly after the interval and created several chances of their own, but neither side could find the space for the crucial strike.

Derby began strongly, with Chris Riggott testing Forest keeper Darren Ward early on and Malcolm Christie firing over.

But County played a dangerous game with their offside trap, with several marginal decisions going their way - most notably when Johnson's clinical strike was incorrectly ruled out.

Forest began to dominate and County were thankful to Ian Evatt for a fine tackle to deny Marlon Harewood as he stormed menacingly into the box.

Harewood again threatened on 33 minutes, picking up a pass from Eoin Jess, but his touch deserted him and he did not trouble Derby keeper Lee Grant.

Forest enjoyed the greater share of possession in the closing stages of the half, but rarely looked like breaking through against a resilient Derby defence.

Forest began the second half on the offensive, and Derby looked decidedly shaky as Riggott saw a shot blocked and Riccardo Scimeca blasted over.

But the home side's best chance arrived just after as Izale McLeod was denied by a scrambled tackle from Forest's Matthieu Louis-Jean.

Derby's 19-year-old keeper Grant, playing his first full game for the Rams, was relieved when Jim Brennan failed to punish a fumble on the edge of the box on 50 minutes.

After the tight first half, chances flowed in the second, and Evatt headed inches wide for Derby shortly afterwards.