Raheem Sterling gave Chelsea the lead in a first-half dominated by the Blues before Nottingham Forest came out for the second half much improved, equalising through a penalty-area scramble following a corner to leave us having to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Explaining why Chelsea failed to beat Nottingham Forest, Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta said: “We are disappointed, of course, that is not the way we wanted to start the new year.

“I think in the first half we had a bit more control of the game but maybe we were not that dangerous to score the second goal, which could have made it easier for us in the second half.

“Even though I think we had a couple of transitions in the second half since the beginning, they were putting more pressure on us and we were not able to escape, playing out or even playing long.

“When a team is losing you expect a reaction and we were not able to find the space or attack the right space to calm down the reaction we expected from them.

“As well, they were playing at home, so when you are 1-0 up you expect that they will react and we were not able to manage that kind of situation.

“They created a few chances and then a set-piece lost us two points. It is disappointing to concede a goal after three touches in the box. That’s really clear and these are the areas where we cannot let teams score.”

The 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest means the Blues are 8th in the Premier League, 7 points behind 4th place Manchester United.