Blues boss Chris Hughton was disappointed to see his side's long unbeaten run end in fairly tame fashion and he admitted that the home team did not perform at St Andrew's.
He added however: "You have got to give Forest credit.
"They came and have a very dogged performance. They had to defend very well which they did."
Dexter Blackstock was the Forest hero with two goals to signal the end of his personal injury frustrations as the Reds moved above Bristol City at the bottom of the table.
Steve Cotterill's men will need all of their recent loan signings and the optimism generated by successive victories as they face a hectic March schedule with no fewer than eight games to play in the month.
These include local derbies at Derby and Leicester and home games against two of their relegation rivals Millwall and Doncaster Rovers.
The Reds boss was full of praise for Blackstock, saying: "He has done fantastically well to come back from a very serious injury. There have been signs over the last three weeks that he has been coming back to his old form."