RYAN Shotton marked his league debut with a goal to rescue a point for Derby County against rivals Nottingham Forest.
Shotton's 80th-minute strike earned the Rams a 1-1 draw at the City Ground after Britt Assombalonga has opened the scoring for the hosts.
Derby ended the game with 10 men after Jake Buxton was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Henri Lansbury fired goalwards inside the first minute but his shot was easily held by Lee Grant.
John Eustace was the first man into referee Paul Tierney's book after a seventh-minute foul on Chris Cohen.
Derby's Johnny Russell sent a free kick wide from 25 yards three minutes later.
Forest skipper Cohen was forced off after a quarter of an hour with an apparent knee injury. He was replaced by Robert Tesche.
Andy Reid's deflected free kick caused panic in the Rams box but the ball was eventually hacked to safety.
At the other end, Craig Bryson lifted a 30-yard free kick over the wall but into the arms of Karl Darlow.
In the 41st minute, a cross by Shotton was headed goalwards by Russell but the ball was deflected away for a corner.
Soon after that, the influential Reid hobbled off and was replaced by Ben Osborn.
Eustace received a final warning from Tierney after a foul on Lansbury as Forest ended the half well.
Lansbury's free kick was headed over by Assombalonga from eight yards out.
Then, in added time, Tesche sent a 30-yard drive whistling past the post, with Grant at full stretch.
Derby began the second half brightly, though Chris Martin was way off target with a couple of efforts.
Michail Antonio tested Grant with a low shot that deflected off Eustace.
Then, Craig Forsyth's cross drifted over Darlow but Russell could not take advantage.
The breakthrough came in the 72nd minute and it stemmed from a Derby attack down the left.
Forest broke and Antonio fed Assombalonga, who span past Shotton and fired into the corner of the net from 12 yards.
Jack Hunt's cross was met by the head of Antonio a few minutes later but he could not direct his header on target.
Derby had brought on Leon Best before the goal and, after conceding, introduced Jordon Ibe for his debut and Ivan Calero for a league debut.
Best was played in by Will Hughes on the left but Darlow was quickly out to block.
But the Rams equalised in the 80th minute.
Forsyth's free kick from the left was headed against the bar by skipper Richard Keogh.
Keogh and Shotton went for the follow-up, which was saved by Darlow - but from just behind the line.
Best finished from close range anyway, to remove any doubt about the goal - other than who scored it!
There was more drama as Buxton, having already been booked, was shown a second yellow card after being penalised for a foul on Assombalonga and then going in hard on Chris Burke after the whistle had gone.
With all three subs made, Simon Dawkins went to left-back, with Forsyth moving across to the middle.
Forsyth might have netted for Derby on the break but his low shot was saved by Darlow.
The Rams held on through eight minutes of added time, with Michael Mancienne's last-gasp header flying into the arms of Grant.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST: Darlow, Hunt, Hobbs, Mancienne, Lichaj, Cohen (Tesche, 15), Lansbury, Reid (Osborn, 43 (Veldwijk, 90+1)), Antonio, Burke, Assombalonga. Other subs: De Vries (gk), Wilson, Fox, Paterson.
DERBY COUNTY: Grant, Shotton, Keogh, Buxton, Forsyth, Eustace (Calero, 76), Hughes, Bryson (Ibe, 76), Dawkins, Russell (Best, 69), Martin. Other subs: Roos (gk), Christie, Whitbread, Mascarell.
REFEREE: P Tierney (Lancashire).
ATTENDANCE: 30,227 (1,947 away fans).
