Brian Laws wowed by £18m Nottingham Forest player during Aston Villa draw

Nottingham Forest claimed a battling 1-1 draw against Aston Villa to move three points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

Forest fell behind in the contest when Murillo put through his own goal, but Neco Williams fired Forest level with a long-range effort before the interval.

Williams has been a revelation for Forest over the past two seasons, and the Welshman now looks like one of the most important players in the Forest squad.

After his performance against Aston Villa, Williams was praised by a former Forest full-back for his efforts against the Champions League-chasing outfit.

Brian Laws wowed by Neco Williams as Nottingham Forest draw

Williams scored a superb long-range goal to fire Forest level in the game, and in the second half, he might have added to his tally were it not for an offside flag.

The defender was a constant threat at both ends of the pitch against Villa and was correctly named as the official Premier League Man of the Match.

Laws felt that the fact he was brave enough to shoot in the first place for his goal showed his teammates the way to go when it comes to getting shots away.

He said live on BBC Radio Nottingham: “That’s exactly what we were talking about, testing the keeper. That will send a message to the rest of the players.”

Forest need more goals on home soil

The beauty of Williams scoring against Villa is that another player has now stepped up and put the ball in the net to take the pressure away from the misfiring attackers.

There is a real confidence crisis on home soil when it comes to scoring goals, and that has to change if Forest are to get over the line this season and secure Premier League survival.

Williams shouldn’t be the man tasked with scoring the goals that keep Forest in the Premier League this season, but the fact that he stepped up yesterday is a huge positive.

With Burnley to come at the City Ground next weekend, Forest now have a huge chance to get a big three points on the board, and hopefully things can look a lot rosier come next weekend.