THE diminutive Bristol City manager Gary Johnson joked it was refreshing change to have Billy Davies in the opposite dug out – if only because, as a man of similar stature, he was somebody he could see eye-to-eye with.

But, while the battle on the pitch was more ferociously fought than the one between the two typically tenacious technical area terriers, Johnson's message after the final whistle should be of great encouragement to the fans of Nottingham Forest.

Because, while Davies may continue to deny it, the Robins boss was convinced – the Reds can challenge for promotion from the Championship this season.

This was hardly a day on which Forest showcased the best of their talents, as they failed to overcome the physical, frustrating approach that the canny Johnson had instructed his players to utilise to great effect.

But as a man who has taken a Bristol side out of the confines of League One and transformed them into a club with genuine Premiership aspirations, he is well qualified to assess Forest's credentials. And he was not shy in sharing his opinion, as he insisted that their opponents are '100% equipped' to challenge for a place in the top six this season.

Of course, the managerial love-in had begun prior to kick-off, when Davies had taken his turn to sing his opposite number's praises while, at the same time, publicising his own hope that he would be given a similar length of time in which to transform Forest's fortunes, as Johnson has been at Ashton Gate.

And the two managers' ethos is startlingly similar – that being to build a team on the solid foundations of being well-organised and hard to beat, before adding a touch of flair and goalscoring ability to the mix.

It was perhaps unfortunate that, following a week when Davies had praised the quality of the football his players had been producing, that their attacking flair and creativity seemed to desert them during a fixture when they required it most.

The tone for the clash was set within eight seconds as striker Nicky Maynard crashed into Chris Gunter with the kind of high, late, lunging challenge that could easily have led to a red card.

The yellow that was instead flashed in the Bristol City man's direction by Anthony Taylor, also set the bar for the standard of refereeing – which could be described as lenient at best.

Dutch midfielder Evander Sno was also lucky to stay on the pitch, following a reckless challenge on Paul McKenna, which was again only punished with a yellow card – before clashing again with the Forest skipper, this time lashing him across the face with an arm, before then bringing him down, after the break.

This time Sno was only given a verbal rebuke by the referee, before he was almost immediately substituted by his relieved bench.

But, the lenient refereeing could not gloss over an unusual lack of invention from a Forest side that seemed uncharacteristically short of ideas when it came to breaking down City's defence.

Despite the familiar cajoling waves and shouts from Davies on the touchline, Forest just could not find their momentum.

Winger Paul Anderson twice came close to breaking the deadlock, firstly early in the game when he narrowly failed to connect with a Chris Gunter cross from the right and then, midway through the second half, as a superb challenge from Cole Skuse denied him the chance to convert in an identical situation, following a neat cut-back from substitute Garath McCleary.

David McGoldrick was badly off target after being picked out at the far post by another cross from the impressive Gunter.

The changes made by Davies in the second half helped spring Forest into life, as McCleary, Dele Adebola and Robert Earnshaw came off the bench to add some attacking impetus, with McCleary firing inches wide with a low, rasping drive.

Just when it seemed Bristol would hold out for a clean sheet, Wes Morgan brought down a Chris Cohen delivery into the box before lashing a close-range finish high into the net to put Forest ahead.

Unfortunately, the Forest back four – who had all performed impeccably for the previous 90 minutes – allowed their concentration to lapse as injury time beckoned, with Jamie McCombe providing a neat knockdown for Danny Haynes to rifle home the equaliser.

The timing of the equaliser may have generated a sense of injustice around the City Ground but, in the end, a draw was an entirely fair outcome.

In Johnson's eyes, it was a clash between two sides destined to fight it out for a place in the play-offs between now and the end of the season.

For Davies, it was a battling performance that extended their unbeaten run to eight matches – but also prompted a familiar warning that his side are not ready to challenge at the top end of the table.

Those sentiments, almost certainly, were voiced in the hope of throwing a bit of weight behind his argument that new faces must be added to his squad in the January transfer window.

And, on that front, Davies certainly has a point. A few more injuries would certainly leave his squad looking a little threadbare.

But, whether the manager is prepared to admit it or not, if three or four quality players can be added at the start of 2010, then there is no telling where his side could be by the end of the season.