Yates: "This is the benchmark now"

Ryan Yates says The Reds were spurred on by the level of 'incredible' support from the Forest faithful during Saturday's victory against Liverpool.

The midfielder played an instrumenal role in the game as Taiwo Awoniyi's second half goal proved to be the difference at The City Ground, with Yates himself almost adding a second late on only for a superb Alisson save.

With belief among the squad beginning to grow, Yates is keen to use this as the benchmark to continue building positive performances and results ahead of next weekend's trip to Arsenal.

"It was an intense game but so enjoyable, days like this are what we live for," said Yates.

"It took me back to the FA Cup days we had here last season, and we have to use this as the benchmark now. That's the minimum required and we want to keep progressing.

"We're coming up against world class opposition but we want to show that we can be more than a match for that and we're building and progressing.

"The lads are all bedding in and we want more of the same. I'm so pleased for Taiwo because he's scored some big goals and he's a great team player and the lads who came on were fantastic.

"We wanted to get the crowd on the edge of their seat and they were cheering us on with every header and every tackle. They've been incredible. It really does spur us on and we're going to need that between now and the end of the season.

"We have to take confidence from the win and the clean sheet and we're itching to get back into the training ground. I can sense the belief in the lads and we're looking forward to next Sunday."