Aitor Karanka gave a rather surprising assessment of Nottingham Forest's hero against West Brom last night, considering the player he praised didn't get a kick under his stewardship.

Karanka left Forest at the beginning of the year, allowing Martin O'Neill to take over, but he was in the Sky Sports studio as a pundit for last night's game.

A spirit display for his former side earned them a 2-2 draw, but they could have had all three points but for a late penalty. Dwight Gayle went down with seemingly little contact, referee Lee Mason awarding a soft spot kick to rob them of the win.

They'd taken a 2-1 lead courtesy mainly of Ryan Yates. The Lincoln-born youngster has broken through under O'Neill and his deflected shot gave them a 1-0 lead, before he pounced for his first senior goal in Forest colours.

Karanka, who didn't give Yates time on the field, was quick to praise his former youth team prospect.

“He’s brilliant and a very good kid. I am really pleased for him and he deserves a lot of credit. I think he is a very good example for the academy players,” Karanka told Sky Sports, as reported by the Nottingham Post.

It will be surely be taken with a certain degree of suspicion by Forest fans, who saw the exciting youngster develop, but not get near the first team, in the early part of the season.

The Verdict

It's fair enough for Karanka to issue that response, but maybe if he'd given the younger players a chance he might still have a job. Yates is clearly good enough, he was excellent in the Brentford win at the weekend and his influence last night was incredible.

Maybe, just maybe the Spaniard has woken up this morning with another regret to add to the list he came away from the City Ground with.