Nottingham Forest ace Ryan Yates watched this year’s Championship play-offs with an analytical eye – and he hopes it can pay off as the Reds prepare for their own promotion push.
Martin O’Neill’s men will find out their fixtures for the 2019/20 campaign when they are released at 9am tomorrow, with a place in the top six their target when the action gets underway.
And like most Forest supporters, there is one particular clash Yates will be looking out for first – the East Midlands derby.
The midfielder jokes he was an Aston Villa “fan for the day” last month, when Dean Smith’s team faced the Reds’ arch-rivals Derby County in the Wembley showdown for a place in the Premier League.
It was the West Midlands side who came out on top, much to Yates’ delight, as it means another chance to face the Rams when the new season kicks off.
“I definitely watched the play-offs,” said the 21-year-old.
“To be honest, I was really nervous. I was kind of like a Villa fan for the day.
“You can’t look into it too much, but I was delighted that Derby didn’t go up and Aston Villa did!
“I like to look at how the players handle the occasion and things like that; look at it from a professional point of view.
“But then that little kid inside you thinks, ‘bloomin heck, we just missed out’. That’s what we need to be striving for next season. That’s where we want to be.”
Last term was a breakthrough one at the City Ground for Yates, having previously had loan spells further down the football ladder with the likes of Scunthorpe United and Notts County.
He made his club debut in August, against Bury in the Carabao Cup, then had to wait until January to get another taste of the action, when he came off the bench in the 2-0 defeat at Reading.
It was Martin O’Neill who really gave him his chance, though, with the 21-year-old becoming a regular starter when the Northern Irishman took charge.
And it means fixtures release day will take on extra significance for Yates this year as he aims to rack up more game time.
He has featured in one meeting with Derby so far – the 1-0 win for the Reds at the City Ground back in February – and is looking forward to finding out when he might get the chance to take part in another.
“I’ve only played in one of those games, but it will be good to still have the derby next season,” he said.
“When the fixtures come out, that’s what everyone looks for. It’s really exciting.
“I’ll be looking at the fixtures straight away because I want to know – I want to know when those big games will be against Derby!
“I’ve only had one year with the (Forest) first-team, so I’ve only looked at the fixtures properly once, but it’s usually, ‘when’s the Derby games?’.
“It is only three points, but those games mean everything to the fans and they’re massive games.”
