Armstrong headed one of his crosses narrowly over the bar and Sol Campbell and Iversen were allowed to get in

Armstrong headed one of his crosses narrowly over the bar and Sol Campbell and Iversen were allowed to get in shots when defenders ought to have closed them down.Forest, in contrast, did not manage a shot for 30 minutes, when Dougie Freedman, who carved out the few chances which came his side's way, ballooned a shot over the bar. He had another effort blocked by Luke Young, a shot saved by the Spurs goalkeeper Ian Walker, and saw the ball whipped off his toes by Carr when he seemed certain to score.His striking partner, Neil Shipperley, had a miserable return to the Forest side and, although Pierre van Hooijdonk was in the starting line- up despite his angry reaction to being substituted at Derby, he made little impact.Forest's best chance came in the dying moments when the substitute Marlon Harewood raced clear but Walker spread himself well to make a vital block. An equaliser would have been thoroughly undeserved although the Forest manager, Ron Atkinson, was as upbeat as ever. "All you can ask from any football team is that they give their utmost and my players did that today," he said.He declined to speculate on his future at the City Ground, although others will doubtless do so as soon as Forest's fate is sealed, which on this evidence is likely to be at Aston Villa next Saturday..

Paul Merson, a confessed alcoholic, has admitted to having had a relapse in his battle against drink. "I have relapsed big time and I am struggling," the Aston Villa player told the News of the World. "I can see it all slipping away." Merson confessed to drinking one and a half bottles of vodka during an eight-hour session in London. "After four and a half years without a drink I decided I needed one," he said. "I had been arguing with my wife Lorraine and felt lonely, so I went out and got sloshed." Merson said his wife had asked for a separation three weeks before the incident.

Meanwhile, France's Thierry Henry scored twice as Italian league leaders Lazio lost 3-1 to champions Juventus. After losing their 17-match unbeaten run to Roma last Sunday, Lazio are still four points clear at the top of Serie A, but second-placed Milan have a game in hand. Juventus, who rested Zinedine Zidane and Paolo Montero ahead of Wednesday's European Cup semi-final second leg against Manchester United, did not have a shot on target until the 34th minute, when the Lazio goalkeeper, Luca Marchegiani, thought Henry's speculative long-range shot was going wide and watched in horror as the ball rolled into the back of his net.. Southampton 3 Blackburn Rovers 3 Marsden 22, M Hughes 61, Ward 14, Peacock 25, Pahars 85 Wilcox 47Half-time: 1-2 Attendance: 15,209FAIRY-TALE STUFF at The Dell as Southampton fought back with Mark Hughes' first goal for a year and Marian Pahars' debut strike to snatch a point from Blackburn with five minutes left. But fairy-tales can have grim endings, too, and for the Saints relegation edged closer with this result.Not that it did Blackburn much good, either, after Everton's win at Newcastle, but at least they have a game in hand as the matches run out and the pace hots up.Blackburn were the more impressive outfit for an hour, not that they needed to be at the highest level to look good against a Southampton defence which dissolves at the thunder of approaching boots. With Kevin Gallacher back from calf injury for his first game in three and a half months, Blackburn took some profit from the horrendous series of injuries which have brought the club so low.

The Scot was impressive in everything he did until he tired in the second half.By then, with a two-goal cushion, Blackburn seemed to have done enough to lift themselves out of the bottom three. But Southampton were benefiting from the arrival after the interval of James Beattie in place of Egil Ostenstad. Beattie carried threat in every thrust towards the Blackburn goal and he it was who tipped the balance, no matter what the scoresheet says.In the 61st minute, his huge frame forced its way to the byline to get in the sort of centre, low and into the six-yard box, which used to be meat and drink to Hughes. Perhaps, after 51 weeks without hitting the target, it required a prodigious effort of memory and imagination as well as strength, but Hughes smashed the ball home joyfully.Then, as Blackburn's defence started to do a passable imitation of Southampton's, the home manager, Dave Jones, gambled on all-out attack by throwing in Pahars, whose fresh-faced looks and small stature disguise his 32 international appearances for Latvia There were 12 minutes left. Pahars, dubbed "Latvia's Michael Owen", needed only seven to mark his home debut with his first goal for the club.

Jason Dodd's long ball was headed on by Beattie and Pahars completed the job from close range.Debilitated as they are by injuries, Blackburn still found no space on the field for Kevin Davies, their pounds 7.25m buy from Southampton, until he replaced Gallacher after 69 minutes. They certainly seemed in no need of him, either, in a first half which was, unsurprisingly, full of commitment and fierce tackles. Even Matthew Le Tissier looked fully involved, and proved it in the sixth minute by clearing Damien Johnson's header off his own line.However, Blackburn were in front by the 14th minute. A long upfield clearance was controlled by Gallacher and slipped deftly into the stride of Ashley Ward, who surged past Scott Hiley and struck a fine shot across Neil Moss and into the far wall of the netting. The goal was received in near-silence but the roars were soon echoing around the packed stadium as Southampton levelled it only eight minutes later.Excellent work by Hassan Kachloul, back in the side after suspension and international duty for Morocco, allowed Hiley space and time to deliver a measured centre which Chris Marsden headed home. Like his team's other two scorers, it was a first for Marsden.The anticipation of better things to come was stilled with only three more minutes played.