Wimbledon's charge towards the Division One play-off places was held up at the City Ground as they were held to a goalless draw by Nottingham Forest.

Dons manager Terry Burton had targeted eight wins from his side's 10 remaining league games to keep them in the play-off picture but they showed few signs that they would achieve their goal in a dull encounter in which David Connolly was sent off late in the game.

Burton was able to name an unchanged line-up following the midweek 2-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday.

Meanwhile Forest boss Paul Hart made one change to the side that held Division One leaders Wolves to a 2-2 draw on Wednesday, bringing in Jon Olav Hjelde to replace Eugen Bopp. Youngster Kevin Dawson, who impressed Hart against Wolves, kept his place in defence.

Forest goalkeeper Darren Ward had endured a busy night against Wolves and was in the action again in just the second minute when he saved Patrick Agyemang's 18-yard shot, the only chance of a quiet opening 10 minutes with neither side able to exert any real pressure.

And there was precious little goalmouth action to follow as the game passed the half-hour mark, with Damien Francis shooting wide and Andy Reid blazing over the crossbar at the other end.

Forest perhaps shaded possession overall and Jack Lester tried a speculative 30-yard drive in the 35th minute, but his attempt was never going to trouble Kelvin Davis, who made a comfortable catch.

Chris Wilmott was shown the yellow card six minutes before the interval for a nasty-looking foul on Forest's David Prutton, the only incident of note as the half petered out.

Wimbledon started the second half with added purpose and Darren Holloway tested Ward from distance, but again the 27-year-old had few problems in keeping out the shot.

But Ward was forced to produce a stunning save from Trond Andersen's fizzing drive in the 49th minute as the visitors threatened to break the deadlock.

Forest remained a threat themselves and Mathieu Louis-Jean forced another save from Davis with a 20-yard drive from the right-hand side of the penalty area in the 54th minute.

Wimbledon's hopes of forcing a win took a huge blow in the 81st minute when Connolly was sent off for foul and abusive language.

And the Dons had a lucky escape four minutes later when Marlon Harewood hit the woodwork with a drive from 18 yards out, but the game finished goalless.

Teams

Nottm Forest: Ward, Brennan, Hjelde, Louis-Jean, Dawson, Gray (Johnson 89), Prutton, Williams, Reid (Cash 90), Lester, Harewood.

Subs Not Used: Bopp, Roche, Jones.

Booked: Prutton.

Wimbledon: Davis, Cunningham, Willmott, Holloway, Hawkins, Ardley, Francis, Andersen, Cooper, Agyemang (Nowland 58), Connolly.

Subs Not Used: Williams, Feuer, Morgan, McAnuff.

Sent Off: Connolly (81).

Booked: Willmott.

Att: 24,292

Ref: B Curson (Walsall).