Nottingham Forest have been flirting with relegation over the past couple of seasons, but things are different this time round with a top-half place currently.
Nuno Espirito Santo has slowly developed his side at Nottingham Forest, with the summer signings of Nikola Milenkovic and Elliot Anderson helping aid the improvement this season.
Nikola Milenkovic has turned out to be the find of the season for Forest, already at least doubling the £12 million price tag they paid for him in the summer.
Virgil van Dijk and William Saliba are trailing Milenkovic when it comes to being dribbled past the least amount of times, which shows just how good he’s been.
However, it’s a different Nottingham Forest player that has been impressing Kevin Nolan in the Premier League this season.
Kevin Nolan knew one Nottingham Forest player would reach the top
Kevin Nolan was a no-nonsense midfielder in his time, and ended up managing bitter rivals Notts County.
The former West Ham midfielder was speaking to Don Hutchinson and Ryan Yates recently on BBC Radio 5 Live, where they dug up a bit of their pasts.
Interestingly, Nolan brought up the time when he was with Yates at Notts County after the midfielder joined on a season-long loan.
Here’s what he had to say.
“Listen, it’s an absolute pleasure now seeing where he is at, I must admit. I am so proud of him because he worked his socks off, he was one of the best professionals who I have seen not only as a manager but as a player as well, and that’s why he is a captain.
“He was only with him for six months, he left me, and if he didn’t leave me, we would have got promoted and he would have been loved on the other side of the water as well, on the other side of Trent.
“I loved my time with him, working with him. I always said, he is one of those players who I thought could go to the top and he has done it.”
Ryan Yates’ rise to stardom at Nottingham Forest
Ryan Yates plays just as bigger part off the field as he does on it.
Elliot Anderson had the pleasure of Yates helping him settle in at the City Ground after joining in the summer, and other players have spoken highly of him.
You can tell that Yates really cares about the club and always gives his all. There’s no one better suited to lead this Nottingham Forest side, as a player who joined the academy in 2005.
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