AN injury time header from Luke Chambers guided Nottingham Forest to a tenth straight victory at the City Ground – and edged them back into second place in the Championship.

A glaring miss from Chris Cohen and some outstanding goalkeeping from Dorus de Vries looked to have helped promotion rivals Swansea to a precious point.

But Billy Davies' side were sent into raptures in the 91st minute as the defender – only in the side because of an injury to Kelvin Wilson – rose to head home a Lewis McGugan corner.

With West Brom defeated at QPR, three points lifted Forest back into the automatic promotion places.

George Boyd came close to scoring in the first minute, although it would have been hugely fortunate had his miss-fired cross flown in at the near post, instead of ballooning into the side netting.

Dexter Blackstock had an early effort ruled out for a narrow offside decision, after Boyd had sent him racing clear.

Forest suffered a blow as skipper Paul McKenna limped off with an injury in the seventh minute, to be replaced by Lewis McGugan.

It did not interrupt Forest's momentum for long however, as Boyd fired wide following a Blackstock flick, before forcing a breathtaking save from Dorus de Vries with an instant drive after a Guy Moussi shot had been charged down.

Lee Camp had to produce a smart block of his own after Shefki Kuqi was allowed to man-handle his way beyond Wes Morgan on the edge of the box, with referee Colin Webster allowing play to continue.

Blackstock then forced a smart double-save from the Swansea keeper, with De Vries twice denying the striker from close range.

While Chris Cohen was guilty of spurning a golden opportunity, firing wide of the exposed goal after a superb run and cross from Paul Anderson.

The second half saw both sides struggle to maintain possession. But it was Forest who put together the first meaningful passing move, with Majewski powering a shot over after fine work from Gunter down the right.

De Vries had to be alert to the danger again as McGugan jinked through the Swansea defence into the box, with the keeper smothering the ball well before the midfielder could shoot.

Boyd had scored 12 goals already for Peterborough this season and his threat for Forest was growing, as he forced a capable save from De Vries with an opportunistic shot from the edge of the box. While Majewski also had a hopeful shot from distance held by the Swansea keeper.

Forest had a lucky escape when referee Webster failed to award a blatant penalty, as Pratley went down as firstly Chambers and then Cohen nipped at his heels in the box, as he raced clear of the home defence.

And it was defender Chambers who made himself a hero at the other end, as he connected crisply with a McGugan corner to steal three points in injury time.

FOREST: Camp, Gunter, Morgan, Chambers, Cohen, Anderson, McKenna, Moussi, Boyd, Majewski, Blackstock. Subs: Smith, Perch, McGugan, Adebola, McCleary, Garner, McGoldrick.

SWANSEA: De Vries, Williams, Tate, Britton, Pratley, Dyer, Rangel, Gower, Butler, Richards, Kuqi. Subs: Cornell, Trundle, Van der Gun, Beattie, Bauza, Burgin, Lucas.