Nottingham Forest missed out on a place in the automatic promotion spots after being held to a second successive goalless draw at home, this time against Oldham.

Lewis McGugan made his first start of the season, with Neil Lennon ruled out through injury, while Arron Davies was named on the bench after successfully coming through two reserve games on his comeback from an ankle injury.

Oldham had by far the better of a poor first half, with Forest's Paul Smith the only keeper forced into making action.

The visitors had the first chance of the match after just four minutes when Andy Liddell's right wing cross was met by Gary McDonald, but he saw his effort flash just wide of Smith's right-hand post.

And the visitors threatened again when McGugan's loose ball was picked up by Liddell, but his low shot was off target.

It was Forest, however, who had the best chance of the half after 10 minutes.

Chris Cohen's corner was flicked on by Ian Breckin to the unmarked Luke Chambers, but he headed wide with the goal at his mercy.

Latics' defender Stefan Stam then flashed a volley into the side-netting as Forest failed to deal with an Oldham corner.

Smith pulled off two good saves in a short space of time, reacting smartly to tip over Craig Davies curling shot before diving to his right to stop Chris Taylor's low drive.

But whatever Colin Calderwood said at half-time seemed to have worked as Forest looked a different side immediately after the break and could have had the lead within the opening 60 seconds.

Sammy Clingan set Chambers free down the right and his low cross was missed by the first defender, but fell kindly to Trotman to hack clear,

The Reds continued to press and Agogo looked to have set Holt through down the middle, but play was brought back for a narrow offside decision.

Oldham then forced Smith into more action, with the keeper making two more good saves, diving to his left to save McDonald's placed shot, before kicking away a close range effort from McDonald after good work by Neil Kilkenny.

The introduction of Arron Davies, replacing the hard-working Holt, brought fresh impetus to the Forest side and the summer signing from Yeovil could have broken the deadlock within a minute of coming on, his driving run ending with a volley just wide of Beresford's right post.

Davies then teed up Cohen from Agogo's cross-field ball, but Cohen failed to connect properly and Marlon Beresford was able to save.

Cohen then missed another chance, miskicking after again being set-up by Davies. The ball fell to Kris Commons, but he could only hook the ball wide from a difficult position.

Both sides pressed for a winner as the game opened up in the last 10 minutes, but neither team was able to create a clear chance.

However, Breckin had to be alive in the dying seconds to clear a low cross from Kilkenny almost on his own goal-line as Oldham looked to grab an unlikely winner.

Forest: Smith, Chambers, Breckin (C), Wilson, Bennett, Clingan, McGugan (Thornhill 84 mins), Cohen, Agogo, Commons, Holt (Davies 63 mins)
Subs not used: Morgan, Power, Roberts

Oldham: Beresford, Eardley (C), Trotman, Stam, Betrand, Liddell, McDonald, Taylor, Kilkenny (Allott 90 mins), Davies, Wolfenden (Smalley 68 mins)
Subs not used: Ricketts, Kalala, Crossley

Referee: M Haywood
Attendance: 16,423 (371 visitors)