Nottingham Forest 1-1 West Brom: Matt Phillips' stunner rescues a point

  /  autty

Boss Darren Moore says West Brom can strengthen their squad without selling players before Thursday's transfer deadline after they battled their way to a first point of the season.

Matt Phillips' 87th-minute equaliser earned a draw in a breathless finish after Adlene Guedioura's long-range effort on 59 minutes had given Forest reward for a classy display.

Moore will now turn his attention to the final two days of the transfer window and possible bids for Craig Dawson, Jay Rodriguez and Nacer Chadli.

But he says potential incoming transfers do not depend on sales.

'Hopefully there will be some more new faces to come in and add to the squad on Thursday,' said Moore.

'It doesn't depend on anybody going out, we just want to add to the squad. I'm aware of the speculation but at the moment they are all players at West Bromwich Albion.'

Phillips fired into the top corner with three minutes remaining to give the visitors a backs-to-the-wall draw from a game the hosts bossed for long spells.

After a summer of heavy spending by the East Midlands club, it looked like free transfer Guedioura would give them a first win of the season.

But it was not to be, although either side could have claimed all three points in a frantic finale.

At 1-0, West Brom new boy Dwight Gayle struck the post just minutes after stepping off the bench.

And Phillips struck the post and Harvey Barnes headed against the crossbar moments after the equaliser.

Even deeper into stoppage time and a goalline clearance from West Brom's Kieran Gibbs denied Forest, who had looked impressive in the first half with summer signings Joao Carvalho and Gil Dias turning on the style.

Forest manager Aitor Karanka said: 'We should have won the game. Sure, they hit the bar and the post but in the first half we could have won the game 2-0 or 3-0.

'But we didn't score and didn't finish the game. I told them, against a team like West Brom, you make one mistake and you're punished and we were.'

Moore added: 'It was a great game for the neutral. Fans saw two very good teams trying to win a football match.

'In the end we shared the points. Take nothing away from us, this will be a difficult place to come.

'We stifled them a bit and then took a sucker punch from the goal which took a deflection. But I'm pleased with the response.'

Related: West Bromwich Albion Nottingham Forest
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