Billy Davies turned to the Welshman on 57 minutes after a first-half performance which he later described as 'probably as poor as we've been in a long while.'
And Earnshaw delivered the goods with a sweet free-kick, notching up only his second goal of a stop-start season to date in which seven of his nine league appearances have come as a substitute.
Despite some doubts as to his all-round game, there is no doubting however that when Forest need a goal, Earnshaw is the man most likely to deliver, with his record for the Reds now showing a return of 19 goals in 47 appearances, 13 of which have been from off the bench.