Nottingham Forest midfielder Ryan Yates has been buoyed by a conversation with a couple of Reds old boys ahead of a final push for promotion.
The 24-year-old’s former teammates Michael Dawson and Glenn Murray were on Sky Sports punditry duty on Tuesday night for Forest’s clash with Bournemouth. And although Steve Cooper’s side missed out on second place with a 1-0 defeat that night, the Reds will no doubt receive plenty of support from afar as they prepare for the play-offs.
Yates and defender Joe Worrall got the chance to catch up with Dawson and Murray before kick-off on the south coast. The pair, who left the City Ground last summer, had plenty of positive words to say as their old club targets a place in the Premier League.
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“Daws has not changed one bit. It’s incredible. He’s still so enthusiastic,” said Yates.
“I’m not surprised he’s gone on to do punditry, because he has that voice, doesn’t he? It just suits him so much.
“He’s exactly the same, just full of energy and wishing us well. I bet he’s gutted we couldn’t get over the line on Tuesday, but he’ll be wishing us well going forward.
“He just said, ‘keep doing what you’re doing, because it’s been a good season’. Daws never has a bad word to say, he’s always positive.
“It was good to speak to him and Glenn Murray, who was also great. We probably didn’t have Glenn for long enough, to be honest.
“Me and Wozza were talking to him and he said it’s probably the biggest club he’s played for, Forest, with no fans. He was gutted about that, especially now he’s seen what it’s like with fans. He was like, ‘ah, it would have been great to experience that’. It was good to speak to them both.”
