Yates: We must earn right to win
RYAN Yates is confident Nottingham Forest will beat Wycombe Wanderers today – so long as they “win the right” to do so.
The Reds go into the game as favourites to beat the relative minnows of the Championship.
However, both teams have only won two matches this season, Wycombe having beaten Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City in their previous two outings.
Yates feels Forest should be winning home gamesm though, as they look to back up Wednesday’s dramatic 2-1 victory against Coventry City, which was their first win in eight at the City Ground.
“You have to win the right to win any game,” he said.
“That first 15 minutes, you have to match their physicality. Coventry produced some outstanding play and their goal was really good.
“That’s the Championship. You see so many games with unexpected results.
“I think we have to stay confident, trust our ability and we should have more than enough to win.
“We did well in the first half against Coventry but the second half was flat.
“We need to be dominating second halves at home when we’re winning.
“There’s many ways to win a game and we got there in the end.
“We need to pin teams back but it’s on to the next one. There’s things to work on.
“We’ve had good spells but we need to do that for 90 minutes in games. We need to create more chances.”
Yates came off the bench after 68 minutes against Coventry to give him a prime view of the winning goal, which Lyle Taylor scored from the penalty spot in the 97th minute.
The central midfielder admits Taylor’s protracted walk up to the ball left him nervous, as he was fully aware the game was on the line.
“Honestly, I was so nervous. I knew it was last kick of the game,” he said.
“I asked the ref. I see him (Taylor) do that all the time in training so fair play to him.”