Nottingham Forest claimed a valuable point in their relegation fight with a deserved 1-1 draw against Chelsea, who lost ground on the Premier League top four.

Chelsea took the lead in the first-half through Raheem Sterling before Serge Aurier showed fine composure when he controlled the ball on his chest and volleyed home the equaliser.

Nottingham Forest indeed the better team in the second-half with Chelsea only having just one shot on goal in the second-half.

Aurier believes Nottingham Forest deserved more than one point against Chelsea following their second-half performance.

He told Sky Sports: “I’m happy for the team to start the year like this. The second half we deserved more than one point but we fight together.

“We’ve started well and now we have to continue and fight to get points and stay in the Premier League because that is the objective of the club.”

Forest captain Ryan Yates added: “He [Steve Cooper] just said ‘believe in yourselves more’ – the first 20 minutes we were too passive we gave them way too much respect. We were a goal behind and we needed to give the fans something to get out of their seats for.

“We were quite tired towards the end we put so much into that first 60 minutes but we’re pleased. We still need to be better we’re not happy with always drawing games at home but it’s a step in the right direction.”