Tammy Abraham scores four as Nottingham Forest hold Aston Villa in 10-goal thriller

Tammy Abraham was in blistering form, scoring four times as Lewis Grabban’s goal eight minutes from time denied Aston Villa a win over Nottingham Forest, both sides settling for a 5-5 draw.

Abraham’s feat included a hat-trick - his first in professional football - in 25 first-half minutes to twice get Villa back on track.

Grabban and Joao Carvalho gave the visitors an early two-goal lead but parity was restored as the Chelsea loanee struck in the 11th and 14th minutes.

In the 22nd minute, Matty Cash pulled Nottingham back up front and the former Swansea City striker responded via the penalty spot 14 minutes later.

After the break, Dean Smith's men fell behind for the third time in the game after Joe Lolley’s 51st-minute strike but Abraham and Anwar El-Ghazi’s strikes in quick successions - after their oppositions were reduced to 10 men as Tobias Figueiredo received a straight red - saw the hosts in driving seat for the first time in the game.

And just as it looked they had secured an impressive comeback victory, Grabban netted his second of the evening to earn his side a share of the spoil. Villa were denied late winners after El Ghazi and Ahmed Elmohamady had their goals ruled out for infringement and offside respectively.

Abraham’s laudable feat on Wednesday evening has taken him to 10 goals in 15 games. And he will hope to continue his impressive goalscoring run when the Villa Park outfit visit Middlesbrough for Saturday’s Championship fixture.