Nottingham Forest legend Kenny Burns watched on as Derby County dropped vital points in their East Midlands derby game at the City Ground.

The game ended 0-0 with Derby's Tom Huddlestone dismissed with ten minutes to go, a decision that angered the Rams manager Gary Rowett.

Two-time European Cup winner Burns admitted the red card was harsh, but was surprised at Rowett's reaction.

"I actually think the red card for Tom Huddlestone was a little bit harsh," Burns told the Nottingham Post. "But in the first half there was quite a lot of pushing on Lee Tomlin which didn’t get punished. Gary Rowett didn’t like it, though. That’s maybe the pressure is starting to show."

The result meant Derby have now gone seven games without a win, losing sight of the automatic promotion spots and tumbling towards an exit from the top six. Burns believes the increased pressure is beginning to show on the former Birmingham manager.

"He’s under a lot of pressure, and I think we saw that at the end when he was complaining to the ref. He’s a good manager, Gary, but I’ve never seen him as wound up as that."

As for Forest, they're marooned in the middle of the pack not in imminent danger of going up or down, a fact that hasn't escaped their former player.

"We’re not going to win the league and we’d be very, very unfortunate to go down now – the odds are probably 1,000-1 – so there’s no pressure on Forest."

The Verdict

Rowett is absolutely under pressure, Derby looked as though they might force an automatic spot at one point, but now they're in a battle to stay in the top six. With Cardiff up next I don't hold out much hope for three points, meaning they'll be glancing over their shoulder at Middlesbrough, Bristol City and Preston, hoping one of those teams doesn't hit a bit of form.