Head coach Steve Cooper has hailed the example set by Ryan Yates for Nottingham Forest’s next generation of talent.
The midfielder put in an outstanding display as the Reds secured a memorable 1-0 victory over Liverpool on Saturday lunchtime. And it capped a mini run of games in which he has been one of the team’s most consistent performers.
Yates, wearing the captain’s armband, was superb alongside Remo Freuler and Cheikhou Kouyate in the centre of the pitch, setting the tone early on as he quickly got stuck in. He almost got on the scoresheet, too, forcing a save from Alisson late on.
READ MORE: How the Reds rated against Liverpool
READ MORE: Cooper delivers verdict on 'brilliant win'
There was no disguising what the three points - secured courtesy of Taiwo Awoniyi’s second half goal - meant to the Nigel Doughty Academy graduate. And he was singled out for praise by his manager amid a brilliant collective effort from the hosts.
"You can't look at it and talk too much about one player. We had massive contributions from every individual. We're pleased with that,” Cooper said.
"It was a really important win. Liverpool had loads of the ball and loads of territory, but we had some good chances as well
"We scored the goal. Yatesy's chance was amazing. How good was he? It was an incredible performance from him - here's me contradicting what I just said about not talking about individuals.
"But, cor, if you ever want to see a local boy, an academy product, playing in a big game… for all the academy boys, just go watch that back.
"We needed the team performance. I said to the players before the game, big games need big moments and big performances. I thought we got that.
"We had some good attacking moments in the first half. The game was always going to look as it was, with them having possession and territory - there's no shame in that, we're playing Liverpool.
"But at the same time, you've got to think about how you can win a football match. It actually went as we thought, by getting into counterattacks.
"We got in some really good positions in the first half but didn’t capitalise on them. I actually challenged the boys to go and make the most of them.
“I challenged the front three to do a bit better in those moments, and also with the transition passes on turnover - because we've not been great at that in previous weeks, there's no doubt about that. I'm not saying we were perfect, far from it, and we've got to improve. But it was an improvement.”
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