Mark Bowen praised his side's character and resilience to fight back from late deficit to salvage a point against inform Nottingham Forest.

A late goal from Ben Watson in the 96th minute looked like being the winner. However straight down the other end with the last knocking's of the game- an Jordan Obita cross from the left was turned into his own net by Forest defender Tobias Figueiredo.

Crazy match

After the match, the Royals boss described the game as "crazy."

He said: "It was crazy - the end to the game. We were sloppy in the first half. In the last few games the midfield has controlled possession and looked assured but we were a bit rusty.

"We dominated most of the game in the second half and it wasn't a classic of a game but we showed a lot more what we are about.

"The game developed and we should have had a certain penalty on Meite. He got a foot on the ball and got caught on the back of his heel. I couldn't understand why that wasn't given.

"I don't think the ref was at his best today, let alone my team in the first half. Their goal was a bit controversial, I'm told by my players the ball was out of play when they kicked it back in the box.

Draw feels like a win

Usually a last gasp draw feels like a win, and this was the same feeling shared the Reading boss after the game. 

It did because you think the game is lost," said Bowen. "I see a resilience in the side which will stand us in good stead because we are in a race with a number of clubs, like Forest [for play-offs], and the characters I saw in my team today will stand us in good stead."

Ejaria played despite illness

A big story coming into this game was to whether Reading star Ovie Ejaria would be well enough to feature in today's match and he did. But Bowen admitted that he wasn't 100 percent today.

"He wasn't very well this morning, he had a heavy cold and started feeling it around when he came off.

"I couldn't afford to wait to see if he is okay. I had to make a quick change to make us fresh for the business end of the season."

Rafael the saviour again

Rafael Cabral again played his part with a vital save against Forest top scorer Lewis Grabban midway through the second half to keep the score at 0-0.

In relation to the Brazilian's save, Bowen said: "We switched off a bit, Grabban got through but Rafael does it week in, week out for us.

"I almost take it for granted now because every week we are seeing the same things.

"He seems to save us at one or two key times. He's a top class keeper."