Tyler in no doubt he can find net in Championship
TYLER Walker got his Coventry City career off to a flying start with a debut goal to secure his new club’s passage to the second round of the Carabao Cup.
His 81st minute strike showed all the predatory instincts that helped him smash League Two with a haul of 26 goals with Mansfield in 2018/19, and follow it up with 17 in League One for Lincoln last term.
He’s no stranger to the Championship, having had a taste as a teenager with boyhood club Nottingham Forest for whom he ended last season with seven appearances and a goal in a 2-0 City Ground victory over champions Leeds United.
As you’d expect from a proven goal scorer, he’s not short in the confidence department.
Asked if he feels he can step up and prove himself in the second tier with the Sky Blues, he said: “Yes, you have to have confidence in yourself. I believe in myself and my ability.
“The size of the goal doesn’t change and I just want to score as many goals as possible.”
There will, no doubt, be expectation on his shoulders.
“Yes, but if you call yourself a striker you are always going to have that expectation on your back, so I am looking forward to the challenge.”
Getting his first goal on the opening day of the new campaign could not have been a better start for the 23-year-old ahead of next weekend’s Championship opener at Bristol City.
“I was buzzing,” he said. “I think I had a chance to pass to Godders just beforehand and I am pretty annoyed at myself about that but I am delighted that we got the win and it’s a bonus that I managed to score. It’s a good start.”
Describing the goal, he said: “It was a good ball in from Ryan Giles from the free-kick and it ricocheted into my path really and I managed to get a turn and get a shot away, and luckily it went in. I try to score all types of goals. That was a bit more instinctive, just came round my feet and I managed to get it in but it’s a good win for the team and I am really happy.”
He added: “It’s great to get off the mark with my first goal because it’s a real confidence boost. You always want to get off the mark as quickly as possible and I am happy to have done that here at Coventry.
“We just have to try to take the momentum into the next game now.”