A closely-fought encounter was settled by a single strike, five minutes after half-time, with LuaLua angling a left-footed shot across Dorus de Vries in the Forest goal.
De Vries had kept the Reds on level terms going into the break with an excellent save from Tomer Hemed while the visitors’ best moment in the first-half came when Henri Lansbury’s free-kick hit the woodwork.
Wanted men Lansbury and Michail Antonio both started for Forest but they looked most threatening when youngster Tyler Walker was sent on as a substitute to partner Dexter Blackstock in attack.
New signings Matt Mills and Jamie Ward also made their competitive debuts on an evening Dougie Freedman will take some positives from while knowing that he needs further arrivals before the transfer deadline.
The rumour mill has linked both Gary Gardner and Lille striker Michael Frey with moves to the City Ground on Friday and it may be that the pattern of the season is not established until the transfer window closes at the end of August.