Nottingham Forest player wastes golden chance to impress Ange Postecoglou, he lost possession 16 times

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Nottingham Forest are four years into their journey as a Premier League football club.

Ange Postecoglou slammed his Forest team last night as the Reds succumbed to a shock 3-2 defeat against Swansea, conceding twice in injury time to lose the game from 2-0 up.

Postecoglou picked a team that featured 10 changes from the team that lined up against Arsenal for the Carabao Cup game against Swansea.

Some of those players did a brilliant job, with Michael Dawson picking out James McAtee and the Forest fans raving about Dilane Bakwa.

However, other players must now be seriously sweating on their roles within the squad this season, with sentiment now needing to go out of the window for Postecoglou.

• READ MORE: Postecoglou pinpoints what went wrong for Nottingham Forest vs Swansea

Ryan Yates now in jeopardy at Nottingham Forest

When Forest won promotion to the Premier League during the 2021/22 campaign, Yates was outstanding.

Even now, he epitomises everything that playing for Forest should be about, but in the position the club finds themselves in, better players now exist in the squad.

A game against Championship opposition should have been the perfect chance for Yates to prove himself to the new boss, but in truth, the captain was miles off the pace.

Right from the first kick-off in the match, he gave possession away, and his attempt to close down the Swansea player for the equalising goal was feeble.

Yates plays in a position that is now well-stocked on Trentside, and with Forest’s participation in the Carabao Cup now over for another season, it’s hard to see where his next game comes from.

Ryan Yates stats vs Swansea

This wasn’t just a bad night for Yates. Willy Boly also threw up questions over his Forest future, and others need a long, hard look at themselves, too.

For Yates, however, he is competing with quality players such as Douglas Luiz, who shone for Forest, and his chances of playing in the Premier League and Europa League have now diminished on the back of this showing.

Yates probably has a role to play around the training ground and in the dressing room, but if Forest are serious about coming out of this slump, then the captain can’t be starting football matches.

Sentiment won’t come into the thoughts of Postecoglou, and with genuine quality waiting to get into the team at the City Ground, Yates’ place in the pecking order could be slipping with each passing performance.