John Percy at the City Ground

Morgan Rogers will be one of the most coveted Premier League stars this summer and perhaps the uncertainty over his Aston Villa future is starting to affect him.

Rogers is enduring a difficult moment in Villa’s pursuit of Champions League qualification and here was another frustrating afternoon for the England international.

Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea are all interested in signing the highly-rated forward, who is rated at more than £80m and firmly in contention to start for Thomas Tuchel at this year’s World Cup.

Yet it is now 11 Villa matches without a goal and there is a growing feeling among many supporters that a huge sale could be the best solution for Unai Emery to rebuild his squad for next season.

It was certainly an eventful, if ultimately disappointing, afternoon for Rogers at the City Ground. He was heavily involved in the build-up for Villa’s goal, struck the crossbar and then produced a remarkable second-half miss, lifting a shot over the crossbar from eight yards.

Emery wheeled around with his hands over his eyes, scarcely able to believe what he had just witnessed.

While there is no question that Rogers is a big talent, recently there have been too many underwhelming performances at a time when Villa desperately need him.

Emery insisted he is fully focused, but did admit that Rogers, who has played 100 games since the start of last season, is feeling the strain.

“Sometimes he needs a rest because he is playing and playing and playing,” said Emery.

“He is able to play three matches in a row in a week. He is able to respond [to] the level because he is doing it. Sometimes he is being clinical, or not. Sometimes as well maybe he is more tired than other matches.

“He is having a fantastic season. He is part of everything offensively we have. His quality and his attitude is really fantastic.”

Villa’s draw keeps them in decent shape for their main target of Champions League qualification, with Emery’s plans again disrupted with a pre-match injury to goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

After Martinez complained of a calf issue in the warm-up, Emery was forced to call on Marco Bizot to start the game. It is the third time this season that Martinez, the World Cup winner, has pulled out of a match before kick-off.

Emery said: “He was telling us, just in the warm up, he was not feeling comfortable with his calf. He was feeling pain. And of course, the most important thing is how Marco responded with this circumstance.

“My only decision, or my only focus, is everything happens to try to have good response.”

This could have been a dress rehearsal for a Europa League semi-final later this month.

Nottingham Forest must overcome Porto at home in Thursday’s second leg after a draw in the first meeting, while Villa already hold a big advantage over Bologna.

If both clubs can secure their place in the final four, they will face each other in a full-English affair.

Forest were relatively satisfied with a point that inches them a little further away from the dreaded dotted line.

They have not experienced a victory in the league at the City Ground since mid-December, but the return of Chris Wood, and Tottenham’s result at Sunderland, generated the biggest cheers of the afternoon.

Wood has missed most of the season with a knee injury and made his first home appearance since October after his introduction as a substitute.

Vitor Pereira, Forest’s head coach, said: “His experience, quality, scoring goals, he smells the goals in the box. He has the ability to help us.

“We need to show the spirit of a fighter and a champion. We will fight until the last game.

“This is a moment in the season when it is very difficult to win games. Every team has something to fight for and for us, in the end, one point is better than nothing.”

It was Rogers who was involved for Villa’s opening goal in the 23rd minute, powerfully striking his cross into the area with the ball taking a significant deflection off Murillo.

Ollie Watkins was denied by Matz Sels while Rogers struck the top of the bar, but Forest did respond and equalised seven minutes before half-time.

Neco Williams has been having another excellent season at left-back and the Wales international’s low shot from just outside the area was enough to beat Bizot.

Villa arguably had the better chances in a drab second-half, with Matz Sels producing saves from John McGinn and Matty Cash.