Nottingham Forest midfielder Ryan Yates told how his Manager Chris Hughton was unhappy after the midweek draw with Birmingham City and that it is now the Reds “duty to perform at the highest level possible” for the remainder of the campaign, saying “we have to perform for the manager” as Forest go into the final three games of the season needing at least one win to all but guarantee their Championship safety.

Yates said after Wednesday’s late draw at St Andrews “It was very tough, we underperformed and had some chances, with Lyle, and I hit the bar, but we played with no purpose and it was like we were on our holidays. We were second best and we need to show a reaction on Saturday because that is not good enough.”

The Lincolnshire born midfielder and Reds Academy graduate furthered “It is a tough place to go, Birmingham, the pitch is always bad and you can make as many excuses as you like but it is all about results at the minute. We stuck in there, showed our character and Grabbs was as cool as ice and scored the penalty at the end.”

Yates himself is a midfielder that has divided opinion from Forest fans in recent seasons, with some terrific performances, some bad, a blood and guts player who like no other, seems to be either loved or hated by Trent Enders with no in between, so we asked our friend Louis Wheeldon at his from12yards blog to dissect the players recent performances with potential reasons to why fans are so decisive in opinion with him, and he said in detail “We have seen Ryan Yates play so far under three different managers at the City Ground. Since Martin O’Neil handed him a cameo debut in his first game in charge, he has also been a prominent figure under Sabri Lamouchi and Chris Hughton, playing over 30 times each under the two managers”.

“So why are many Forest fans against his usage in the team, and so many also against it?”

“The main argument for his inclusion in the team is what he offers in work-rate and tenacity. He averages around two tackles and an interception per game, being deployed in an almost identical fashion to how Dutch midfielder Davy Propper was used in Hughton’s system at Brighton; operating deep in his own lines and coming forward to supply more attack-minded players when Forest are in possession. A useful role in the team, no doubt, and when a cookie-cutter box to box central midfielder is used to its full potential then the player in the role can be largely the heartbeat of the team.”

Wheeldon stated “On the defensive side of his box to box’s duties, Yates is largely successful. He averages a tackle success rate of just over 85%, which is amongst the highest in the Championship”. However when in possession his statistics are not so good, Wheeldon furthering “when Forest have possession he averages a 78.7% passing accuracy in the Championship this season; not woeful, but not up to the level of his teammates or rivals in the league. For instance, Ben Watson, who played largely the same role as Yates in swansong year with Forest, averaged a much more impressive 84%. This shows where Yates is perhaps weakest; going forward.”

At 23 years young though Yates still has time to improve and Wheeldon believes he will, saying “Yates performed admirably over Forest’s best run of the season, starting every single game of a 6-game unbeaten run between December and January before defeat, and injury, brought an end to it. These games allowed us to see how Yates can be used perfectly in a pragmatic and patient footballing machine. Hughton likes to slow the play down and dictate the games tempo to suit Forest, and then attacking when the chance to presents itself and wearing the opposition down and frustrating them; Yates suited this brilliantly over these 6 games, rounding it off with a goal against Millwall to cap off a run of impressive performances which helped the Reds escape relegation trouble, averaging the highest pass accuracy and tackles completed tally out of the whole team, and most of the league, over the Christmas run.”

“These 6 games show the exact kind of player Forest have on their hands; a meat and potatoes midfielder who may not be the most dynamic or easy on the eye, but can be brilliantly effective when his strengths are played to maximum ability. At the age of just 23, time is still on Yates’ side to really prove himself to the harshest of sharp-tongued critics on the internet, and should he be able to, Forest may find themselves able to sand off the edges in order to develop themselves a natural leader and a proper old-fashioned and richly talented defensive midfielder.”

Ahead of Stoke and following on from Birmingham, when asked about his own mentality going into games, Yates said himself “I can only speak for myself, as my mindset is the same whether it is the first game of the season or the last game. I will always give 100 per cent in every single game and as players, that is our job and our duty to do that.”

Proof that as a footballer, as a person, regardless of whether he’s loved or hated by the fans, he has the right mentality to succeed and perhaps play an even more prominent part in Forest’s future than he already does. Yates is a player, one Managers can rely on, who will always give everything he can for the Forest cause, which you cannot ask more of a player wearing red to do.

Forest host Stoke on Saturday afternoon where a 1-0 win with a Ryan Yates goal to ensure the Reds stay up wouldn’t go amiss. Just imagine if he did that…? Would Reds fans then become more unified than those who clambered together to give European Super League disapproval in cheering on a new homegrown hero? Well I doubt it… But it would certainly turn a few more haters, into lovers of one of our own. Lincoln born but Nottingham bred.

*Article provided by Daniel Peacock (Editor).

*Main image @NFFC Ryan Yates is a footballer who will always give 100%