Nottingham Forest kept their slim hopes of gatecrashing the Championship playoffs alive with a 2-0 win over lowly Rotherham.

Dougie Freedman's men were nowhere near their best but won with two goals in the space of two first-half minutes to leave them eight points adrift of the top six with eight games to play.

Dexter Blackstock struck his third goal of the season with a lobbed finish in the 43rd minute before Michail Antonio doubled the lead with a fine solo effort.

Rotherham, six points above the drop zone, more than matched Forest and could have made a game of it had Lee Frecklington's effort early in the second half gone in instead of hitting the post.

Connor Sammon was also denied by a fine Karl Darlow save as boss Steve Evans was left to rue that manic two-minute period just before the break.

It had started as an even contest, with the Millers enjoying good possession even though they were unable to create anything in the final third.

Antonio fired a couple of warning shots from distance but did not test Adam Collin in the Millers net as Forest struggled to find their groove.

But, with nothing to separate the two teams, the game was decided in 113 seconds on the brink of the interval.

First Antonio claimed an assist as he sent a long ball over the top which Blackstock got to first and he lobbed the back-pedalling Collin, who could not keep the ball out despite getting a hand on it.

With the Forest crowd barely back in their seats, they were celebrating again when Antonio found his range.

He beat several challenges on a surging run before unleashing a low drive from 20 yards which arrowed into the bottom corner.

That left Rotherham with a mountain to climb after the break, and they put up a fight as Frecklington twice went close, first hitting the post with a volley on the edge of the area before seeing his goalbound effort blocked.

The Millers' pressure meant they were vulnerable to the counter-attack and Antonio was a constant threat with his pace and power, prodding an effort wide while Jamaal Lascelles planted a header wide.

Rotherham should have pulled a goal back in the 74th minute but Forest keeper Darlow, called into action for the first time, produced a superb reaction save to deny Connor Sammon.

And when Frecklington missed from the resulting corner, Evans' men knew it was not going to be their night.