But Wednesday and their fans still have every right to smile about fifth place in the table plus an unbeaten home record and a third consecutive Hillsborough clean sheet.
Records will show that a second-half goal from Etienne Esajas was the difference between the Owls and Forest.
Behind that statistic is another battling show from Brian Laws's men, maybe short of the killer touch but full of endeavour and staying power.
They were the better side on the whole yet also needed Grant – hero of the 0-0 draw with Ipswich in the previous home game – to be at his best to leave Forest still looking for an away point and Laws celebrating a 100 per cent record after five games as a manager against his old club.
Laws kicked off with a logical team selection: without the injured Steve Watson and Jermaine Johnson, and with a preference for playing 4-4-2 at home, he brought back Deon Burton as a second striker to partner Marcus Tudgay and recalled Esajas out wide.
Tudgay seemed bent on adding another individual goal to the one he scored at Charlton when he ran at the centre of the Forest defence.
It looked as if he might have gone clear if he had not taken a tumble as he tried to beat the last defender on the edge of the Leppings Lane box. The ref was right to refuse a penalty.
There was precious little else of note in a mediocre first half hour.
The Owls could not get their passing into top gear, Forest grafted to stifle them and were no threat themselves.
Wednesday were struggling to create excitement or a clear-cut chance. Home fans groaned in frustration when a mistake was made, and a big but rather quiet following from Nottingham seemed equally unimpressed with their team.
The first save for Paul Smith did not come until the 38th minute, and that was an easy one, from a header by Sean McAllister that might have been going wide, anyway, after a free kick by Esajas.
When the Owls did at last carve open the bottom club, it was through a top class cross from Tony McMahon, in the 43rd minute. Burton looked certain to score with a free header but powered it wide of Smith's left-hand post.
Grant was also underemployed until Tommy Spurr conceded a foul just outside the area early in the second half and his victim, Chris Cohen, saw his low free kick well held by the Owls keeper.
It was in keeping with the nature of the game that when a goal came, it was scrappy.
Esajas tried a pot shot from 20 yards and the ball took a big deflection off Forest centre half Ian Breckin and bounced into the net to the right of a wrong-footed Smith.
Ten minutes later it was down to Grant to keep the Owls ahead. The keeper who was influential in the last two games, against Ipswich and Charlton, sprang to push a dipping header from centre back Kelvin Wilson away from his top corner.
Then when the resulting corner gave Andy Cole a free header that was going in under the bar, Grant reacted swiftly to touch it over the top.
"England's No 1," chanted Owls fans.
The crowd will have been surprised to see Richard Wood taken off in the 65th minute, with Mark Beevers coming on and the captain's armband handed to James O'Connor. But Wood had a slight groin injury and knew it would have been unwise to continue.
The team skipper said he will be fit for Saturday's trip to Plymouth. Laws said Watson wanted to play last night and will be ok for the weekend, when Johnson too should get the all-clear.
Three minutes after the substitution in defence the game should have been killed off. Another great ball by McMahon from the right found Burton unmarked in front of goal and just needing to guide home an easy chance.
Somehow the striker managed to knock the ball back across goal and out for a goal kick. It will go down as one of the misses of the season.
Wednesday's failure to find a second goal meant a couple of Forest attacks were alarming but the Owls went close to a breakthrough when a Tudgay run teed up a shot for O'Connor – who was a driving force in midfield – and Smith made a commendable save.
Tudgay at this stage was playing on the right side of midfield, with Small forced off by muscle weariness and Jeffers coming on up front.
An exquisite back heel by Jeffers made the next chance: Burton lashed in a shot and Smith made another good save. From the corner, Burton's header was going in but unluckily hit Beevers and was deflected for a goal kick.
In the 89th minute Cole must have though he'd equalised; his shot on the turn was hard and true but Grant made the save of the night, getting down to his right to push the ball away.
CLICK ON GREEN PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO SEE MATCH PICTURESWhat do you think? Post your comments below. READ MORE Blades Watch 08-09 - The Season So FarOwls Watch 08-09 - The Season So FarWatch Premiership highlights, international football, golf, tennis, darts and much moreFootball headlinesMore BladesMore OwlsMore SpireitesMore RoversMore RedsMore MillersMore Ice HockeyMore rugby leagueMore rugby unionMore boxingSports columnistsAll sport categoriesThe full article contains 967 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
