A penalty awarded for a trip on Chris Gunter by Adam Hammill started a Nottingham Forest fightback which saw them claim a point even home boss Billy Davies admitted they did not deserve.
Robins rued: "Adam has certainly switched off, got the wrong side and reacted late, but the contact was outside of the box. The players tell me it was outside.
"The game changed on that incident and we feel aggrieved that we have not taken all three points and been the first side to win at The City Ground in a long time.
"We were fairly comfortable and did very well in the game. We did exactly what we intended to do but it's galling that when we come to big clubs those big game-changing decisions go against us."