Nottingham Forest claimed a famous win over Manchester City last weekend, finally giving The City Ground something to cheer about. There was one unexpected positive performer to emerge from the win.

It felt like a watershed moment as Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City 3-1, handing Oliver Glasner a first home win, first home goal, and also saw the Reds rise out of the bottom three. Liam Delap grabbed most of the headlines as he scored a brilliant brace with two wonderful strikes.

Ryan Yates named unsung player of the week

Speaking on The 2 Robbies show on NBC Sports, former Forest player Danny Higginbotham and Robbie Earle were waxing lyrical over the performance of Ryan Yates against Manchester City.

“He hasn’t played all that often, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, he’s a go-to guy. When things aren’t going right, you know he’ll go in there and ruffle a few feathers; he’s going to shake everybody up. He’s going to shake everybody up; he’s got the respect of the whole dressing room.

“No matter how much players have been coming in for, when he speaks, you listen because he knows the football club inside out, he’s been on that journey, and I think you’re quite right to say he’s the under-appreciated performer of the week, his performance was outstanding, and it really set the tone for Nottingham Forest to get a great win.”

Yates made his first start of the season, coming into the midfield, and his leadership was instantly visible as he had all the players following his every word on the pitch. Jamie Redknapp hailed Yates’ contributions in the win, arguing it wasn’t a coincidence that Forest won after his return to the line-up with the balance he brought.

Nottingham Forest must start Ryan Yates going forward

Yates represented that one consistency through the past six or seven years on the journey Forest have been on, through countless players and managers. Yates has been through all of this and provides that one piece of stability.

This makes him unique and utterly invaluable to Glasner in getting out of the form that would have certainly led to relegation. The first step was taken against City, but Forest need Yates to be starting every game for the foreseeable future as it gave the team such a strong and balanced midfield that City couldn’t break through.

Forest needs a balance, and Yates brings that, and therefore, his value cannot be overlooked anymore.