Troy Deeney wowed by ‘combative’ Nottingham Forest star who won four headers vs Leicester

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The East Midlands is red and white once again, with Nottingham Forest now flying the flag in the Premier League.

Friday’s 3-1 win for Forest flattered Leicester and on another day Steve Cooper might have really been put to the sword by some of his former players.

Ryan Yates was excellent again. He scored a belter to open the proceedings but then missed from seemingly under the crossbar in the second half.

Chris Wood – signed by Cooper as a backup option – is thriving under regular game time and he took his tally to seven goals for the season.

Elsewhere, Murillo, Ola Aina, Nicolas Dominguez, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga offered Cooper a reminder of the quality he used to have as the Forest head coach.

Playing Leicester never means quite so much to Forest fans as it does to Leicester supporters but nonetheless, this was another away performance to saviour.

• READ MORE: Martin O’Neill stunned by Forest star who is absolutely flying

Troy Deeney raves about Nottingham Forest star

Supporters would have been forgiven for thinking Deeney had an axe to grind with Forest earlier in the season.

Forest went to Liverpool and won 1-0 in September with the pundit overlooking every player for his Team of the Week.

Now, he’s followed up on last week’s inclusion of Wood by naming Yates in his midfield alongside West Ham performer Edson Alvarez.

Deeney told BBC Sport: “Both midfielders were excellent. They were very combative and did everything simple and well.

“In times when the games got a little bit ropey, they stepped up, whether it be a big tackle or calming the play down and winning fouls.

“They were excellent and two players who epitomised their teams in their necessity to find a win.”

Yates playing best football of his life at Forest

A number of loan spells shaped Yates into the player he’s become, with Barrow, Notts County and Scunthorpe all benefitting from his presence.

It’s taken over 200 appearances but ultimately, Yates is now showing the level of performance that some of his critics have long desired for.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
6	BrightonBrighton	9	4	4	1	16	12	4	16
7	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	9	4	4	1	11	7	4	16
8	TottenhamTottenham	9	4	1	4	18	10	8	13

There is still a sense that Yates is limited when it comes to technical ability but the other side of his game has never been called into question.

Who Scored showed that he won four headers and completed 81% of his passes on Friday in a performance that might have won him the Man of the Match accolade were it not for Chris Wood.

At 26 there is still time for Yates to get even better and right now he’s playing arguably the best football of his life in the Garibaldi and long may that continue.