NOTTINGHAM Forest maintained the pressure on Premiership leaders Newcastle and sent Aston Villa tumbling towards the relegation zone with their eighth win in 11 league games. Brittle Villa never recovered from the blow of conceding a first minute penalty, converted by Stuart Pearce, and Steve Stone confirmed Forest's fourth away win with a 70th minute second goal. Manager Ron Atkinson used his programme notes to assure Villa fans his team are not preoccupied with Coca-Cola and UEFA Cup commitments. Atkinson insisted it would only be a matter of time before Villa made home advantage count in the League as the goals finally arrived to reward what he described as "some of our best football ever". It was a game that failed to live up to expectations but kept unbeaten Forest in the hunt for the Premiership title while increasing Villa's anxiety at the bottom.