Championship: Nottingham Forest 0 Swansea 0

Ten-man Swansea City claimed a 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest in the first leg of their playoff semi-final in the Championship on Thursday.

The match at the City Ground pitted the third-placed side in the league at the end of the season – Swansea – against sixth-placed Forest, and the hosts received an early boost when Swansea defender Neil Taylor was given a straight red card inside the first minute.

Taylor was given his marching orders for a wild lunge on Lewis McGugan but although they had a numerical advantage, Forest could not make the most of it.

The card seemed to galvanise Swansea, who played on the counter-attack and were the better side in the first half, largely thanks to Chelsea loanee Fabio Borini who consistently tested Forest shot-stopper Lee Camp.

The hosts also had chances of their own, with the best coming from Robert Earnshaw who saw his half-volley well saved by Dorus De Vries, but in the second half Forest improved as the Welsh side’s resistance began to fade.

Billy Davies’ side felt they should have had a penalty when Alan Tate appeared to handle Chris Cohen’s shot while Earnshaw had a close-range header ruled out for offside.

Nathan Dyer had a late chance to claim an away goal and forced a terrific reactionary save from Camp but in the end it was Swansea who would finish the match with the momentum, having held on for over 90 minutes with 10 men.

The second leg of the tie, to be played at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium, will take place on May 16.