Ben Watson has urged Ryan Yates not to change the way he plays after his red card at Bristol City.
Watson is well placed to give advice to Yates as a veteran presence alongside the 22-year-old in the centre of the Nottingham Forest midfield.
Yates was dismissed for a terrible tackle on Adam Nagy after 56 minutes of Saturday's 0-0 draw at Bristol City.
Speaking immediately after the game, Watson admitted he had not seen the challenge and while he feels Yates would learn from the red card, he called for him to maintain his combative style in games, as well as training.
"I didn't actually see it but the reaction of their players showed they believed it was a red card," he said.
"That's the way Yatesy plays and trains. He plays on the edge. If you take that away from him then he's not the same player.
"We had to adjust and we did that well as a team. We were nice and solid.
"He's the nicest kid in the world but on the field that's how he trains and plays and it's how he'll continue to play.
"It's nice when you get a result after you've been sent off. There's nothing worse than being sent off and losing the game.
"He was delighted we got a point and he'll pick himself up. It's a learning curve for him.
"It was something that happens in football. One week it's Yatesy, another it might be someone else. You have to adjust when it happens."
Former Crystal Palace, Watford and Wigan midfielder Watson says the point at Ashton Gate was a good demonstration of what Forest can do under Sabri Lamouchi, as they stayed fifth in the Championship ahead of Wednesday's trip to QPR.
"It showed what we're about with 10 men. It would have been easy to crumble but we didn't," he said.
"We kept the ball at times. It's only one player but it does make a huge difference.
"We knew it would be a hard game. After the last break we went to Wigan and lost and we said before this game we didn't want that to happen again.
"There's a belief about the place. I believe that as the season goes on we'll get stronger.
"If we had that bit more belief today we could have been 2-0 up at half-time but that will come from working with the manager and his staff.
"We're in a good place at the minute and now we look forward to the game on Wednesday."
Forest could even have won the game, had Lewis Grabban been able to put away a glorious chance, when he lobbed just wide.
Nonetheless, Watson felt it was a case of mission accomplished as Forest got a creditable result at a promotion rival.
"The chance with Grabbs was a fantastic chance. He scores that nine times out of 10 but we were happy with the point," he said.
"They're just below us in the league. When we left here we wanted to still be above them and we are so we're pleased with that."
