Nottingham Forest are highly renowned for youth development and the new-look Aitor Karanka side could turn to youth again as they look to return to the Premier League. 

It has been a nightmare few seasons for Forest fans. Owner Fawaz Al-Hasawi steered the club through turbulent times, with failures both on and off the pitch distressing supporters.

Luckily for them, the Kuwaiti businessman is no longer in the driving seat the City Ground, so Forest look a completely different side both on and off the pitch to that of 18 months ago, where they narrowly avoided relegation to the dismay of fans, who blamed Fawaz.

Spending record fees in the summer, the path from the academy to the first-team may seem jaded. However, Forest are renowned for their academy recruitment, and boss Aitor Karanka is a lover of nurturing youth, so the path is still clear.

Here, we look at THREE Forest players ready to make that step up and seriously boost Nottingham Forest's promotion push...

Ryan Yates signed a new deal with the Reds this summer, but first-team football has been few and far between, thus far. He rejected the chance of joining Rotherham to fight for his place at the City Ground, where he knows he is behind a host of other midfield options.

Despite this, Yates is clearly a talent. Spending last season on loan across the River Trent, Yates excelled at Kevin Nolan's Notts County and was one of the best players in League Two.

He remains down the pecking order for now, but if given a chance, Yates could seriously boost Forest's chances.Arvin Appiah will certainly have one eye on the first-team this season. The teenager scored for England under-18s recently in a win over Holland.

With the lack of striking options for Karanka's men, Appiah will have fancy his chances of breaking into the first-team after a lone substitute appearance in the Carabao Cup against Newcastle.

Jordan Gabriel is a pacy full-back who turned 20 this week. Forest signed him in 2015 and had to fight off competition from Chelsea at the time, with Gary Brazil piling the praise on the player.

A few years and a couple of lengthy injuries later, Gabriel will feel he is ready for the first-team and will be looking to catch the eye of his Spanish boss.

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