Rarely-seen Nottingham Forest man still has huge role under Sean Dyche, he proved it vs Malmo
Sean Dyche made a handful of changes to his starting lineup as Nottingham Forest faced Malmo at the City Ground.
Arnaud Kalimuendo has experienced a difficult start to life in England, heading into the Europa League clash with zero goal contributions to his name, but that quickly changed on Thursday, 27 November.
After Ryan Yates opened the scoring from long range, the French striker fired home from a corner situation to double the Reds’ lead, with Nikola Milenkovic putting the icing on the cake.
Forest had already beaten Liverpool at the weekend, and having also taken three points against Leeds United, the Tricky Trees are now unbeaten in five matches, even after so many changes to the lineup.
Sean Dyche rings the changes ahead of Nottingham Forest win
Eyebrows were raised when the teamsheet was announced, with Zach Abbott playing full-back, Yates joining Ibrahim Sangare in midfield, and James McAtee handed a rare start on the wing.
However, it is important for these Premier League clubs to rest their bigger names against lower opposition, and Dyche clearly trusts those lower down in the pecking order at the City Ground.
Yates was also involved against Sturm Graz, with the Europa League likely to be his competition this season, but despite his lack of involvement, he can continue to play a key role at Forest.
He likely also plays an important role off the pitch, continuing to be a loud voice in the dressing room for the Reds this season, but his performance against Malmo spoke volumes about his mentality.
Ryan Yates’ performance by numbers vs Malmo
Despite just 245 minutes of Premier League football to his name, Yates took to the field with so much confidence, able to open the scoring from just inside the penalty area in the first half.
In 90 minutes, he got three shots on target, created two chances, completed 92 per cent of his passes, completed 100 per cent of his dribbles, and won 100 per cent of his aerial duels [FotMob].
The 28-year-old made it impossible for Malmo to create any attacks, who managed just one shot in the entire game, and of course, he picked up his normal yellow card towards the end.
Dyche will be extremely pleased with Yates’ display, and while he may not be a regular appearance-maker in the Premier League, the manager can put his trust in him to perform when really needed.