Nottingham Forest striker Tyler Walker continues to impress at League One Lincoln City, earning praise from new Imps boss Michael Appleton after his double strike helped Lincoln to a well-deserved win over promotion hopefuls Sunderland on Saturday.
Walker signed a season-long loan deal at Sincil Bank in the summer after falling down the Forest pecking order in recent years. The twenty-two-year-old scored twenty-six goals on loan at League Two outfit Mansfield Town last season, and he’s started where he left off this campaign, netting seven times for the Imps so far.
His latest display at Sincil Bank was very impressive. He was a constant menace to the Sunderland back four with his strong running and excellent hold-up play. His first goal was a typical poachers effort, nipping in to beat Sunderland keeper Jon McLaughlin to a Neal Eardley cross while his second was all about pace and power as he beat everyone to a superb Bruno Andrade ball into the box.
In between the two goals, Walker missed a penalty, and it was how he responded to this disappointment which really pleased the Lincoln boss when speaking about the second goal to Lincolnshire Live after the match, Appleton said: ‘It would have been quite easy for him not to get in there and feel sorry for himself. But he didn’t, he dusted himself down, got on with it and got his rewards.’ before heaping further praise on what he called Walker’s ‘personality.’
Our View
Walker appears to be loving life in Lincoln and continues to prove his eye for goal.
Having started as a lone striker under the Cowleys, new manager Michael Appleton made a tactical tweak for the Sunderland match, getting Lincoln’s number ten Jack Payne playing closer to the striker in more of a 4-4-2 formation.
It worked to devasting effect, and with better support, Walker looks set for another twenty-plus goal haul this season.
Questions remain over his Forest future with many fans feeling he deserves his chance at the City Ground and are demanding a January recall, especially with Forest currently short of forward options.
Despite recent comments by Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi that Walker could be recalled in January, our understanding is there is no recall clause in the deal.
It will, therefore, be fascinating in January to see how this one plays out.
If Forest sign a striker and leave Walker at Sincil Bank, it will surely signal the end of his Forest career and put Lincoln in the driving seat to seal a permanent move for the hitman, whose current deal at the City Ground expires in the summer of 2021.
