STEVE Hodge pounced for a last-minute equaliser against Aston Villa to give Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough a tonic as he recovered at home from 'flu.

Forest were heading for defeat but with just a few seconds left the England midfielder stooped to head home substitute lan Woan's left-wing cross.

It made up for the frustration felt first by Hodge himself, when he drove against the inside of the same post after 77 minutes and then Roy Keane, whose crisp, rising shot from 10 yards rebounded to safety from the underside of the bar.

Nigel Clough fired them into a fourth-minute lead and Forest's lead looked comfortable until Villa manager Jozef Venglos worked his half-time magic.

Villa's Paul McGrath loped past challenges from Stuart Pearce and Des Walker before cutting the ball back for Tony Cascarino to level.

Villa were a team transformed, Derek Mountfield used his knee to prod them ahead from point-blank range five minutes later, and such was their dominance at that stage that Ormondroyd, Chris Price and Mark Blake might all have increased the advantage.

Villa supporters also saw the best of Cascarino during that marvellous spell.

Even Cascarino, though, was upstaged by McGrath, who moved forward from his usual defensive role to nullify the midfield threat of Steve Hodge.

It was all the more galling, then, that Hodge should be the man to grab Forest's equaliser in the final few minutes.

Even after Hodge's point-saver, Ormondroyd nearly grabbed a dramatic winner Terry Wilson turning the shot over his own bar.