Alex McLeish avoided defeat in his first game as Nottingham Forest manager as Billy Sharp’s last-gasp equaliser rescued a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace yesterday.

McLeish was hired by Forest’s Kuwaiti owners on Thursday after the Al Hasawi family controversially sacked Sean O’Driscoll on Boxing Day just hours after a 4-2 home win over Leeds.

The former Aston Villa and Birmingham manager was given a good reception prior to kick-off at the City Ground despite claims his reputation for dour football would make him unpopular with Forest fans.

But the McLeish era got off to a poor start as Glenn Murray put Palace in front on nine minutes.

Andy Reid equalised just before half-time, yet it looked as though McLeish would suffer a debut defeat when Murray struck again with nine minutes remaining.

However, Sharp grabbed an stoppage-time leveller to salvage a point for the former Scotland coach.

Blackburn, whose Indian owners sacked Henning Berg after just 57 days in charge on Thursday, romped to a 3-1 win at Barnsley thanks to goals from Joshua King, Ruben Rochina and Jordan Rhodes.

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