Former Nottingham Forest star David Johnson has given praise to current midfielder Ryan Yates and has also made a prediction that might surprise some fans.
The 23-year-old is a player that often divides opinion among the fan base. Since Steve Cooper arrived at the club, however, he’s proved a revelation in the engine room.
Yates has come through the Forest ranks. He has now made 114 appearances for the Reds, scoring 10 goals in the process.
Johnson believes it won’t be long before he’s hitting 10 in one season though and that might come as a shock to the fan base.
As good as Yates has been in midfield under Cooper he is still prone to missing plenty of pretty routine chances.
Johnson believes that his ability to score more goals could determine whether or not he makes the step up to Premier League football during his career.
He told the Garibaldi Red Podcast: “I believe that Ryan Yates, in one season, will score over 10 goals because the Ryan Yates that I know from a young lad, his energy, his work ethic and when he gets into the box and he keeps missing, it will go in for him one year.
“Technically he’s getting better and if he can get into those areas and finish them off it’s the difference between him being a Premier League player and a Championship player.”
Finishing: Yates weakness is evident and Forest will hope he works on it
Johnson has a point here. Without saying it, he’s implied that his finishing has been pretty ordinary and ultimately that will need to change.
Yates has showcased his class in the middle of the park under Cooper but now he has to take his game to the next level.
The 23-year-old has played over 100 times for the Reds. As a result, it’s time he started highlighting exactly why Premier League clubs should be monitoring him.
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In order to do that, he must add more goals. This season he has four to his name and it seems unlikely he’ll reach double figures this season.
Yates has to get more goals and ahead of next season, it’s something that he desperately needs to work on.
Whether or not he can become the goalscoring midfielder Forest crave remains to be seen.