Nottingham Forest have earned a 3-3 draw with Aston Villa, despite striker Scott Sinclair scoring a hat-trick for the visitors.

© Getty Images

Forest stunned the Premier League outfit by taking the lead in the first minute when Dexter Blackstock found space inside the Villa penalty area before drilling a shot past goalkeeper Mark Bunn.

Both teams were enjoying plenty of the ball in forward areas, but chances were few and far between until Sinclair equalised for Villa when meeting Jordan Amavi's cross from the left flank.

Forest responded through two efforts from Michail Antonio but after his first effort went wide, Bunn was on hand to smother his low drive.

A minute into the second half, Antonio struck the post for Forest, but on 51 minutes, Villa went ahead when Joe Cole found Sinclair, who provided a cool finish into the roof of the net.

The West Midlands outfit were unable to take full control, though, and new Forest signing Jamie Ward struck the woodwork with an angled drive.

However, Sinclair wrapped up his treble on 64 minutes when he unleashed a 25-yard strike into the top corner.

Back came Forest, with Blackstock forcing another intervention out of Bunn, and with 10 minutes remaining, Henri Lansbury scored a second for Forest with a composed finish from the edge of the area.

It appeared as though Villa would hold on for the win, but in the final minute, a corner found its way to Kelvin Wilson, who made no mistake from close range.