Steve Cooper refused to risk getting into trouble by criticising referee Leigh Doughty – but said Nottingham Forest would address the situation “officially” after seeing two penalty claims turned down in their 1-1 draw with Sheffield United.

Forest had two decent shouts for spot-kicks rejected in their previous outing at QPR – and Cooper found himself yellow carded on the touchline in the aftermath of seeing Brennan Johnson cautioned for diving against the Blades.

Forest believed they should have had two penalties following two challenges from Chris Basham on Johnson either side of half-time.

United had taken the lead when former Forest man Billy Sharp came off the bench to turn creator, setting up Morgan Gibbs-White to put the home side in front in the 78th minute, with an instinctive finish.

Fellow sub Lewis Grabban ensured that Forest would take a point from the game when he forced the ball home from close range, after Jack Colback and Johnson had combined down the left.

But for the second game running, the spotlight fell on refereeing decisions.

“I am not going to get into the decisions and get into trouble, but we will stand up and be counted,” said Cooper.

“We want people to be proud of us. We know we have work to do; we know we need to be in a better place, still. But we are trying. And when things are going against us and people want to be unfair with us, we will not accept it.

“I am not going to go on script with you guys about that, but we will certainly be addressing it off script, officially.

“Brennan got booked for diving as well… I got booked as well, I don’t know what for.

“It was a fair result even if a few moments and a bit of luck might have gone our way. It was a tough game against a team with a lot of resources; they have players who applied themselves well in the Premier League and on their journey there.”

Slavisa Jokanovic felt it was two points dropped for the Blades, after seeing them take the lead in the 78th minute – and concede only five minutes later.

“We played a decent game, we knew what to expect from Forest. They tried a few times, without success, to hurt us on the transition,” he said.

“We dominated the game without creating many things. But we scored in the right moment and I thought we would be able to survive for a few minutes.

“They scored and I don’t know if Grabban was trying to control the ball or not, but we can do better in that situation.

“At the end, we are disappointed because we wanted three points and we feel as though we have lost two.”