Nottingham Forest have secured their first win in nine matches in the Championship with a 1-0 victory over Derby County at the City Ground.

The home side were ahead inside the opening five minutes as Nelson Oliveira picked up the ball on the edge of the box before rifling it into the bottom corner.

The visitors tried to get back on level terms down the other end soon after, with George Thorne trying his luck from 30 yards out, blasting the ball high and wide.

It was Derby who continued to create the majority of the chances in the first half, with Jeff Hendrick hitting the bar with a curling effort, while Johnny Russell forced a save from Dorus de Vries, before Cyrus Christie blasted wide after making a run out from the back.

Scott Carson had to be alert early in the second half as Oliveira looked to make an impact again with a 20-yard curling finish, but it lacked the accuracy of his strike at the start of the match, while Ryan Mendes also missed the target shortly after the restart.

Bradley Johnson had the first chance of the second half for the Rams, but his curling finish from 25 yards out failed to test De Vries.

Derby continued to come under pressure at the back though as Daniel Pinillos played the ball through to Mendes, who could not get his shot away, while Carson claimed a weak header from Jack Hobbs.

The visitors pushed increasingly hard as the match headed into the final 10 minutes, but Oliveira was launched on the counter-attack as the hosts won the ball back, resulting in Lansbury slipping it through for Mendes moments later, but Carson came off his line to clear.

Darren Bent came off the bench late on to try to rescue a point for Derby, but he curled the ball straight to De Vries, who was left with a comfortable save.

Forest had to get numbers back in stoppage time as Derby continued to pile forward, but the home side did enough to hold on, with Christie's weak looping effort claimed by De Vries in the final seconds.

The result lifts Forest up to 15th in the table, although they have played a match more than the sides around them, while Derby remain fifth.