Head coach Sabri Lamouchi is making sure no-one in the Nottingham Forest squad has chance to rest on their laurels.
The Frenchman “keeps everyone on their toes”, according to midfielder Ryan Yates, as the Reds look to mount a promotion push this season.
They have dropped to 10th in the Championship table after successive defeats, against Wigan Athletic and Hull City, and
And they will be looking to get back on track when they make the trip to Luton Town on Saturday.
“We’re doing really well,” said Yates.
"I think the manager is changing the team and keeping everyone on their toes throughout the whole season.
“You don’t know when you’re playing, so everyone has got to be ready at any time to step in and play.
“We’re training really well.
“We’ve had two poor results, but we’ve got another game on Saturday so we’ve just got to try to put it right.”
Yates though, is wary of getting carried away too soon in the campaign.
“Even at this stage last season, we all had the same goal,” he said.
“All the players, we really want to be pushing to win every single game. Obviously in the Championship that’s not possible.
“But we’re not really looking towards the end of the season. We’re just taking it game by game and trying to improve on things.
“What the manager is asking of us in training, we’re just trying to produce on a Saturday.”
Yates, who made his return from injury against the Tigers last Wednesday night, is well aware of what to expect at Kenilworth Road.
He has faced the Hatters before, when he was on loan at Notts County in the first half of the 2017/18 season.
Back then, Luton were in League Two and Yates helped the Magpies come from behind to secure a 1-1 draw.
Tomorrow, Forest will face a Town side who themselves have lost two games in a row and are 19th in the table after being promoted last term.
“I’ve been there before and it’s quite a tight ground. The fans are on top of you,” said the 21-year-old.
“I know it was a really scrappy game! The pitch wasn’t the best and it was absolutely freezing!
“We ended up getting a draw, which wasn’t too bad because they were top of the league at the time.
“I think tomorrow we’ll have to try to settle them down first, especially being away from home, then our qualities will shine through and our individual players can hopefully win us the game.
“They’ve been a bit indifferent with their results.
“They are quite open and expansive, and I think they’ve been better at home than away from home.
“We’ve just got to go there and stamp our authority on the game. Hopefully our qualities will shine through.”
Yates came off the bench for the final half hour against Hull, for his first appearance under Sabri Lamouchi.
A knee problem required surgery in the summer, and he was simply pleased to be back out on the pitch, despite the 2-1 reverse at the final whistle.
“It was amazing. You can’t really enjoy it at the time, though,” the Nigel Doughty Academy product said.
“I think I was just a little bit nervous going back out there, and we were chasing the game.
“That hasn’t really happened to me before, to be honest - coming on and trying to really chase the game.
“It was a little bit different, but unfortunately we didn’t get the result.
“I’m buzzing to be back. I’m gutted the game was off last weekend, but it gives me another week to get sharper and be ready for this game.”
