Forest opened the scoring from Emmanuel Dennis, but Ashley Young rifled in an excellent 22nd minute strike to square up the game.
The result moves Forest off bottom spot and snaps their five-game losing run, while Villa are only three spots above in 16th with nine points from nine games, albeit they are unbeaten in four games.
“The important thing for me, is how I can get this team to be more potent,” Gerrard told Sky Sports.
“You look around our dressing room and see Coutinho, Buendia, Watkins, Ings, Bailey will be back soon. I need these players to step up and provide big moments. Go and be headline writers.”
Villa have only managed seven goals in their nine games, which is the equal second lowest in the Premier League, with only Wolverhampton scoring less with three.
Philippe Coutinho has copped plenty of criticism for his underwhelming displays this term, scoring no goals and providing no assists.
“We can change these draws into wins if people step forward and give us moments of magic. That will help us feel a lot better,” he said.
“I don’t want to talk about four games unbeaten because it’s not enough. In this game, at a club like Villa, we need wins. We had an opportunity today to win the game and really jump up the league. That’s gone by us.”