Both sides went into the match desperately needing points to create a gap between themselves and incredibly tight relegation places.
Forest, whose run of nine unbeaten home games was ended by Newcastle last time out, started the better of the two sides as Morgan Gibbs-White saw his curling effort tipped over the bar by José Sá.
The home side continued to apply pressure throughout the first half and were asking questions of Sá, who was keeping his Wolves team in the contest, making saves to deny Brennan Johnson and Emmanuel Dennis.
Johnson finally broke Sá’s resolve before HT as he found himself in space and drilled the ball past the Portuguese goalkeeper from a tight angle giving Forest the goal their performance deserved
Wolves went into the HT break frustrated after a disappointing opening 45, especially with their defending in the goal, and their frustrations were further compounded by Rúben Neves receiving a 10th yellow card, meaning the midfielder will now be facing a two-game suspension.
The visitors came flying out the blocks for the second half though with Daniel Podence and Pablo Sarabia introduced.
Julen Lopetegui’s men thought they had a penalty when Adama Traoré was brought down in the box by Felipe but after a VAR review, a penalty was not given.
This caused temperatures to flare in both dugouts, resulting in a red card being shown to members of the coaching staff for both teams.
Steve Cooper sensed the change in momentum in the second half and responded by moving to a back-five with just under 30 minutes to go.
That move may have been done too early as the Forest players found themselves defending on the back foot, and faced waves of Wolves pressure.
That paid dividends for the away side as substitute Podence fired into the top corner and salvaged what could be a vital point for Wolves in their fight for survival.
Neither side could find a winning goal and had to settle for a point each, and remain with a slender gap over the relegation places.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest)
