"David Johnson won't be going anywhere," said the Forest boss.
"He's doing what we and I presume he wants - he's in the first team scoring goals.
"More than that, he is a big part of the dressing room. He is doing and saying right things and he is working hard in training.
"I did have an enquiry about Johnno late on before the deadline, but the answer was no. We have let Marlon King go out on loan, we have let Neil Harris out on loan, so forwards-wise we did not want to lose anyone else."
Deadline day also brought a financial windfall for the club, who will pocket £300,000 as a result of former player Jermaine Jenas' switch from Newcastle to Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs paid £8million for the 22-year-old England midfielder, with Forest receiving 10 per cent of any amount over £5million as part of the deal that initially took him to St James' Park.