Both sides came into this clash following underwhelming starts in Europe’s secondary competition, but Forest were arguably in finer fettle after defeating Porto last time out.
Sean Dyche’s men began brightly here too, with James McAtee inches away from breaking the deadlock when he ran on to meet a cleverly-taken free by Nicolás Domínguez before firing wide. Ryan Yates then saw his header cleared off the line by Arjan Malić during a dominant start from the Tricky Trees.
Nevertheless, Die Schwoazn had the ball in the back of the net on their first foray forward, as Maurice Malone tapped home the loose ball after John Victor kept out Otar Kiteishvili’s initial effort.
However, Forest’s blushes were spared by the assistant referee’s flag.
Dyche’s men then went from potential agony to possible ecstasy when Emanuel Aiwu was penalised for handling Neco Williams’ cross in the box, but Oliver Christensen comfortably denied Morgan Gibbs-White from 12 yards in an absorbing first half.
Forest sought to quickly move on from that disappointment after the restart, as Ryan Yates fired wide with a speculative attempt from distance, while Arnaud Kalimuendo was on the receiving end of Niklas Geyrhofer’s crunching challenge after being played through by Williams.
Those hoping this would lead to a flurry of goalscoring chances were left disappointed, with the contest becoming increasingly cagey as the half progressed.
That seemed to suit Graz better, and the hosts would have drawn first blood had Jon Gorenc Stanković made a decent connection with the ball after Tomi Horvat's set-piece caused havoc in the box.
Domínguez nearly won the game late on in emphatic fashion, but the Argentine’s deflected effort cannoned off the post.
Ultimately, Forest had to settle for a share of the spoils, which is a creditable result given their lengthy injury list.
Meanwhile, Jürgen Säumel will be encouraged by his side’s defensive solidity after losing three of their previous four games in all competitions heading into tonight’s game. It certainly won’t go down as a classic, but it could be an important point for both teams in their respective quests to reach the knockout stages.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest)