Sheffield United took a small step towards the premier league when they held Nottingham Forest to a 1-1 drawin the first leg of their division one play-off at the City Ground on Saturday.
The winner of the tie will face Wolverhampton or Reading, who play their first leg later on Saturday, for a place in the top flight at the play-off final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on May 26th.
After an entertaining but goalless first half, David Johnson put Forest ahead with his 28th goal of the season 10 minutes after the break. Andy Reid's pass set the prolific striker clear and he coolly drilled the ball past United keeper Paddy Kenny.
But less than a minute later the Yorkshire club were back on level terms when Michael Brown was clearly fouled by Forest's French defender Matthieu Louis-Jean inside the penalty box and the United midfielder stepped up to convert from the spot.
Forest were forced to play the last eight minutes of thematch with 10 men after their promising 19-year-old central defender Michael Dawson was sent of for a lunging challenge on Steve Kabba. He will now miss Thursday's second leg.