ROBERT Earnshaw was delighted to grab a crucial equaliser for Nottingham Forest – to keep himself on the pitch.

The striker had been away on international duty, making a substitute appearance for Wales before starting against Germany in midweek.

But he was unaware Joe Garner had been told to warm up to replace him with the Reds trailing at Barnsley on Saturday.

Manager Billy Davies was forced to change his mind when, after being denied by the bar, Earnshaw grabbed his 15th goal of the season to earn a 1-1 draw at Oakwell.

And the former Derby man says he wants to play every minute of the remaining five matches to help steer the club to Championship safety.

Earnshaw said: "I was not aware but in the back of my mind I thought he might have brought me off because of the two games in the week. We have a big five games left.

"But looking at them I want to be playing every minute and if I score, like on Saturday and it keeps me on, that is fine.

"It [the international break] has helped me get sharper and I felt good considering we have had three games in a week. And when you get passed around by the Germans on Wednesday night, it is tough.

"I felt better as the game went on and the goal gave me extra energy, an extra lift. We have two games next week so he was thinking about bringing me off, but that is how it goes.

"The goal was a good thing as it kept me on the pitch as well as getting the equaliser. I will take that."

Two tough games now face Forest over the Easter Bank Holiday, with Bristol City at home and then Sheffield United away.

Earnshaw added: "The boys are battling to try to win every game. We have spoken about it and you can see we were on the front foot, we are trying to win games and whether it is Sheffield United or Barnsley, we are trying to get the wins to stay up.

"We do not fear anyone. We have had a few hard games but from now on it is all about us staying up. We are not focused on other teams.''

Forest could have been two goals down had it not been for Iain Turner's second-half penalty save. But after the equaliser, Forest also had chances to win the match.

Earnshaw said the players were a little upset that they did not take three points.

"We are disappointed in a way but we will take a point seeing how up and down the game was and them missing a penalty," he said. "We had a couple of chances, hit the bar and put in some good effort.

"There are five huge games left. We have to look at them and two wins would be a big help.''