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

The East Midlands are back in red and white, with Nottingham Forest now flying the banner in the Premier League.

   Leicester were flattered by Forest’s 3-1 win on Friday and on any other day Steve Cooper might well be killed by some of his former players.

   Ryan Yates was great again.    He hit one to start proceedings before missing what looked to be under the crossbar in the second half.

   Chris Wood – signed by Cooper as a back-up option – thrived in the regular season, scoring seven goals for the season.

   Elsewhere, Murillo, Ola Aina, Nicolas Dominguez, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga Cooper offered reminders of the quality he possessed as Forest’s head coach.

   Playing at Leicester never means as much to Forest fans as it does to Leicester fans, but even so, this was another away performance to salvage.

   Troy Deeney pays tribute to Nottingham Forest star

   Fans would have been forgiven for thinking Deeney had a hand in Forest at the start of the season.

   Forest went to Liverpool and won 1-0 in September, with the pundit overlooking every player in his squad this week.

   He has now followed the inclusion of Wood last week by naming Yates in his midfield alongside West Ham artist Edson Alvarez.

   Deeney told BBC Sport: “Both midfielders were excellent. They were very combative and made everything easy and good.

   “At times when the games were a little tough, they stepped up, whether it was a big offense or to settle the game and win over fouls.

   “They were excellent and two players who symbolized their teams’ need to win.”

   Yates is playing the best football of his life at Forest

   A number of loan spells shaped Yates into the player he has become, with Barrow, Notts County and Scunthorpe benefiting from his presence.

   He made more than 200 appearances, but in the end, Yates is now showing the level of performance that some of his critics have long desired.

   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 in question.

   The goalscorer saw him get four clearances on Friday and complete 81% of his passes in a performance that could have earned him man of the match honors had it not been for Chris Wood.

   At 26, Yates still has time to get even better and is currently playing the best football of his life at Garibaldi, and long may he continue to do so.