Schmidt's last-gasp winner keeps survival hopes alive

The Reds are now second-bottom and two points from safety ahead of Wednesday’s final day trip to high-flying Brentford needing to win and hope that two of Wigan, Charlton and Luton do not pick up the points they need for survival. 

Barnsley, knowing anything other than victory would send them down, were the better side, hitting the post and the bar and forcing their former goalkeeper Jordan Smith into several saves.

Gerhard Struber dropped top-scorer Cauley Woodrow to the bench, following a nine-game goalless run, along with Aapo Halme as Marcel Ritzmaier and Luke Thomas came in. Thomas played behind the strikers in a 3-4-1-2 while Forest almost matched them with a 3-4-3. 

The hosts were the better side in the first half and had a series of chances but, as has been their problem recently, they could not put the ball in the net. 

Alex Mowatt, who had been named Player of the Year earlier in the day, had the first shot on target in the third minute but his rasping 15-yard effort from the left of the box was beaten away by former Reds loanee goalkeeper Jordan Smith who then pushed a 20-yard Thomas effort out of his bottom left corner in the fifth minute. 

Thomas had started very well but almost gifted the visitors the lead in the tenth minute when he lost the ball deep in his half and Forest’s top-scorer Lewis Grabban was played clean through but dragged a shot from the left of the box across goal and wide.  Ritzmaier then shot straight at the goalkeeper from 25 yards before, at the other end, he made a good block near his goal in a huge scramble after a free-kick from the left. 

Midway through the first half, Chaplin benefited from a Forest mix-up and collected the ball on the left of the penalty area then his shot from a very tight angle went across the face of goal and wide. Chaplin then forced Smith into another save from a powerful cross-shot, again on the left of the box. 

Barnsley were extremely close when Thomas clipped the top of the crossbar with a powerful shot from just inside the box after a right-wing cross by Kilian Ludewig. Mowatt drilled wide of the bottom left corner from 20 yards out after a brilliant run by Chaplin and a pass by Callum Styles. 

Forest had their first shot on target in the 41st minute when a weak shot by Nuno Da Costa from a Silva cross was easily gathered by Walton diving down to his right. 

Jacob Brown should have opened the scoring just before the break when he did well to bring down a throughball in the box but, in a one-on-one situation, could not control the bouncing and bobbling ball before Smith blocked. 

Woodrow came on at half-time for Ludewig with Brown moving to right wing-back so Woodrow could play up front with Chaplin. The second half was a far more quiet with no real action until midway through when Ritzmaier’s deflected shot hit the right post. 

Struber brought on 20-year-old midfielder Matty Wolfe for his professional debut. He almost scored five minutes later when he hooked a shot across goal but it was cleared, after Brown had turned a Mowatt cross wide when he looked likely to score. 

Jordan Williams shot just over from outside the box in the 80th minute then Struber brought on Schmidt so all four of his first team strikers were on the pitch.  Schmidt's goal was a good finish in the box after Brown had headed down a cross from the left. 

Barnsley (3-4–1-2): Walton; Sollbauer, Andersen, J Williams (Halme 87mins); Ludewig 6 (Woodrow HT), Mowatt, Ritzmaier (Schmidt 82), Styles; Thomas (Wolfe 67), Brown, Chaplin.   Unused: Collins, Marsh, Bahre, Oduor, B Williams. Goals: Schmidt 90+4.