Nottingham Forest already had their next Elliot Anderson all along, his stats prove it

James McAtee produced a fantastic display for Nottingham Forest as they were held 1-1 by Ipswich Town on Friday night.

Neco Williams' goal was cancelled out by Julio Enciso before the break, extending their run of four consecutive Premier League matches without victory and increasing the pressure on Oliver Glasner.

The Austrian was only appointed in the summer but is already potentially facing the sack, with his team continuing to float around the relegation zone.

McAtee joined Nottingham Forest from Manchester City in the summer of 2025, in a deal worth up to £30million.

The midfielder struggled to find his feet last season and made just 26 appearances across all competitions, often being played as an attacking midfielder when he did.

But in the wake of Elliot Anderson's £116m move to Man City, the England youth international has dropped back and is now a key part of Glasner's midfield.

James McAtee's remarkable stats vs Ipswich Town

For all of Glasner's struggles this season so far, deploying McAtee deeper in midfield will go down as one of his greatest decisions.

The 24-year-old has been fantastic this season so far, and is starting to produce the staggering stat lines that Anderson became known for last season.

McAtee might have hoped to score his first goal of the season on Friday after bursting behind the Ipswich defence before he was taken out by Issa Diop, who only received a yellow card.

But there was much more to his display beyond that. The Englishman completed his only attempted dribble, 10 passes into the final third and 14 that broke the lines.

He was fouled an astonishing five times, at least three more times than anybody else on the pitch.

And McAtee's statistical dominance did not stop there. He made seven tackles - more than anybody else - and his 13 ground duels won also went unmatched. Only Exequiel Palacios was able to better his remarkable 13 recoveries.

McAtee making Nottingham Forest waves

When Anderson left, Nottingham Forest fans would have imagined all of the potential replacements they could have signed with the money.

They could never have imagined that the best replacement was at the City Ground already.

McAtee looks a player transformed this season, and individually, he will hope to continue to progress under Glasner.

But even should the Austrian fail to turn the situation around, he will unlocked something that many would never have imagined was in the midfielder.