Sabri Lamouchi says Ryan Yates “will be back” during the international break and should be in contention to face Wigan Athletic on October 20. The 21-year-old hasn’t played a single minute of football for Nottingham Forest this season, but it appears he’s finally nearing a return.
Lamouchi told Nottinghamshire Live: “Ryan Yates will be back, for sure, during the international break. Yesterday and today, he had a great session, so he will be with us very soon.” Yates hasn’t played for Forest since May, with his last appearance coming against Blackburn Rovers on the final day of last season.
The midfielder underwent knee surgery to fix a long-standing problem in July and was expected back in training last month. Yates has been working hard on his conditioning for weeks and has finally made significant progress. Lamouchi wasn’t willing to rush him back, so he’s had to be patient for opportunities.
His impending return is great news for Forest, but they have coped well in his absence. The Reds are currently fourth in the Championship and unbeaten in nine. On Saturday, they’ll host a Brentford side with three defeats from their last four away games, so Lamouchi’s men will fancy their chances of a win.
Yates was a regular in midfield last season, but Ben Watson & Samba Sow have excelled together in 2019/20 and will be hard to dethrone. Forest also have the likes of Alfa Semedo, John Bostock, Tiago Silva and Claudio Yacob as backup, so the Englishman has his work cut out to get minutes.
