Roy Keane has hailed Manchester United youngster James Garner for his performance for Nottingham Forest during their defeat to Liverpool.
Garner is on loan at the City Ground from the Red Devils for the second successive season and has become a key player under Steve Cooper. He has made 36 appearances in all competitions to help Forest rise into play-off contention and reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they faced the Reds on Sunday.
Cooper once again selected Garner in central midfield, with the United youngster having started every Forest game since November. The 21-year-old lined up alongside Ryan Yates and more than played his part as the hosts pushed Liverpool all the way in a pulsating cup clash.
Forest made a solid start to the game and while Liverpool quickly began to dominate the ball, the hosts did look dangerous going forward themselves. Roberto Firmino did miss a huge chance in the first-half when he was put through on goal.
But Forest had chances themselves, with Philip Zinckernagel's miss from six-yards out following Brennan Johnson's cross arguably decisive. Diogo Jota netted the only goal of the game just a few minutes later when he slipped his marker to turn Kostas Tsimikas' cross home.
Garner played a huge role in the biggest decision of the game, when Ryan Yates latched onto his brilliant through ball before being brought down by Alisson. Contact on Yates was questionable though, with VAR ruling there was not enough for it to be considered a foul.
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Though he was ultimately part of a team that have been dumped out, Keane was full of praise for Garner's performance. Speaking on ITV, Keane said: "He has got a good partnership with Yates going in the middle of midfield, I think they complement each other very well.
"He is very good technically and he likes to dictate the play, sits a little bit more than Yates. Tough game for him today, but this game is good for those young players to experience playing against these top players like Liverpool, it is a great way to learn."
Garner more than held his own in the midfield battle, making three recoveries, winning five defensive duels and having a pass accuracy rate of 68 per cent. That was part of an impressive performance from the rest of his team-mates, with Keane also taking the opportunity to praise Steve Cooper's side.
"They should be proud, I think Forest in the second half may feel slightly unlucky. They had one or two moments, but all the fans ask is the players give their all, and they did tonight and I think Forest were slightly unlucky to be fair," he said.
"The referee has got it [Yates penalty shout] right. It was a brilliant pass and an absolutely fantastic touch, but I think the problem with Yates is that he is too honest and not smart enough.
"He should really try and go into the goalkeeper more because he is thinking, 'I want to score' and we can’t criticise him for that, but he has got to go into the keeper and we probably see a more experienced player do that. It is frustrating because he is so honest and trying to stay on his feet but he needed to be smarter there."
