Arne Slot doubled down on his claim that Nottingham Forest are Premier League title contenders after Diogo Jota headed in an equaliser with his first touch in an entertaining draw. Slot has predicted Forest will rival ­Liverpool to be champions if they keep key players fit. Liverpool lead Forest, up to second, by six points but also have a game in hand on Nuno Espírito Santo’s side.

Forest are the only team to have beaten Liverpool in the league this season, at Anfield in September. Asked about Forest’s chances of gunning for the title, Slot said: “I don’t think they’re up there because of luck. They have been very hard and difficult to play against for every team. They’ve already had a few difficult away games, [Manchester] United away, [Manchester] City away, playing us twice.

Related: Jota rises to peg back Nottingham Forest after Wood gives Liverpool early scare

“It shows you they are a team that can compete at the top end of the league. I think they have had most of their players until now available for the whole season, I almost always see the same lineup and that is a quality for their coaching staff. If they can keep the same players on the pitch, I see no reason for them to drop a lot of points because they are a difficult team to play against.”

The Liverpool manager introduced the left-back Kostas ­Tsimikas and Jota midway through the ­second half, in place of Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konaté, and the pair combined immediately at a corner to cancel out Chris Wood’s first-half strike.

Slot conceded he was pleasantly surprised by the super-sub nature of his decision.

“We brought an attacker [Jota] in for a defender [Konaté] just to play even more ­attacking football than we were because we needed a goal, goals,” he said. “Scoring from a set piece was not something I had in my mind when I brought them in. But Jota can score a goal and Kostas is good at set pieces.”

Jota’s header cancelled out Wood’s 13th goal of the season in all competitions, a fine first‑time finish after he latched on to Anthony Elanga’s pass. Liverpool’s goal was the first Forest, who boast the second-meanest defence in the Premier League, had conceded in six matches.

“The way we’ve conceded, we’re usually a lot better than that,” Wood said. “The way we’ve conceded leaves a sour taste. They’re a good side and showed it all season. We had to stand up and be counted. It shows we have come a long way but we have a long way to go to be winning these games.”

Asked if Forest’s players, who have won six of their past seven league matches, have discussed a title challenge, the striker replied: “No, there’s no talk like that. We’re just talking about keeping progressing, getting better every week, every month, and seeing where it takes us.”