Golden shot for a Notts instant call
NEAL Ardley has not ruled out handing Tylor Golden his Notts County debut in the National League match away to Stockport County tonight.
The Magpies have signed the Salford City right-back on a month’s loan and manager Ardley says the defender has already made a good impression.
He will go straight into the squad for the clash at Edgeley Park as the Magpies look to get over their disappointing home defeat to Chesterfield at the weekend.
Golden linked up with his new team-mates yesterday with the former Wigan Athletic defender quickly showcasing why the Magpies had been eager to get his signature.
The 21-year-old has been tipped to have a bright future in the Football League and Ardley believes he can be a real asset, not only defensively but also in the final third.
“He’s athletic, really honest and hard-working,” said Ardley.
“He’ll run up and down that line as much as he physically can.
“He’s got a good cross on him, he’s physically robust, puts himself about and defends for his life.
“Having seen him in training today (Monday), I’ve been even more impressed with his vision, touch and movement in tight areas.
“He’s got all the qualities you really want from a right-back and, fingers crossed, he’ll fit in really well.
“Tomorrow’s match may be a little too soon for him. The best option may be to give him the rest of the week to see what we’re about and then introduce him at the weekend, but I haven’t made that call yet.”
Golden has been added to the squad to compensate for the loss of the experienced Richard Brindley, who is struggling with a groin problem.
That is set to keep him sidelined for a month, which is a blow because he has been an outstanding performer for Notts since his arrival on a free transfer last summer.
But if Brindley is out for longer than anticipated, Ardley said they would look at being able to extend Golden’s deal.
“There’s a bit of a grey area with Richard,” said Ardley.
“It might take him a month just to get back into full training, but it may take him a month for him to be fit to play games.
“If it’s the former, he’ll need another two weeks to get back to where he needs to be.
“With Tylor, initially we’ve done a month and if we want to extend that we’ll have the conversation with Salford.”
Golden had spells with Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers before joining Wigan in 2014.
He made his senior bow in a Papa Johns Trophy tie against Middlesbrough,
but was released last summer and made the move to Salford.
Golden made his League bow for Salford in a clash away to Forest Green Rovers, where he was part of defence which kept a clean sheet.
His performance won praise from then manager Graham Alexander.
“He’s been training with us for quite a while, actually, because he came in, impressed really well. He’s been on the bench a few times and we felt comfortable enough to go with him and he didn’t let anybody down,” he said.
“I thought he stuck to his task, defended really well. He wants to get forward and play in the game, so he can be really pleased with his debut.
“It’s a big ask coming in for your League debut, a full debut, against a really good opponent but I thought he did exceptionally well.”
NOTTINGHAM Forest face being without striker Lewis Grabban again when they make the trip to face Rotherham United tonight.
A hamstring injury kept the front man out of the match-day squad for Saturday’s victory over Blackburn Rovers and has also ruled him out against the Millers.
But fellow forward Lyle Taylor will be involved. He appeared to hold his back towards the end of the weekend’s 1-0 win after coming on as a substitute.
“Lyle is fine,” said boss Chris Hughton. “Grabbs hasn’t quite made it. We’re relatively confident it’s not going to be too long, but probably tomorrow has come around too quick.
“Scott Mckenna (ankle) is still out. Samba Sow (ankle) and Sammy Ameobi (knee) have both trained the last couple of days and we’re expecting Harry Arter (calf) to be back in training next week.”
The Reds climbed to 17th in the table with three points at the City Ground, putting them seven points clear of the bottom three.
They have now lost only twice in their last 13 League games, with players returning from injury adding to the competition for places.
Battling for a spot in the side can also help guard against any possibility of complacency creeping in. “The best way is to keep that level of competition – but also what we do on the training pitch,” said Hughton.
“There are always going to be positions which you change more than you change others. At any club, you are going to have a section of players who are playing a high percentage of games.
“And you are going to have other positions where there are players who don’t play so much.
“That’s where we have to do our work on the training pitch, to make sure we keep their levels up and keep their motivation up.
“All of that is a little bit easier when you’re winning games.”
Midfield is one area where the manager does have a lot of options.
Ryan Yates returned from a spell on the sidelines when he came off the bench against Rovers, while Arter – fighting for the final place in Forest’s 25-man squad – is also edging back.
The last few games, though, have seen Cafu and James Garner strike up a good partnership in the centre of the pitch.
“The only thoughts you have of changing something are generally to do with form or to do with the type of game we are about to play, or for rotation when we’ve got so many games,” said Hughton.
“For particular games, you can have a different combination which you think maybe works better.
“If we are ever at a position where we have all our midfielders available, that’s the plus we do have – the competition, but also different types of players you are able to use for different types of opposition.”
■ Rotherham manager Paul Warne is hopeful Matt Crooks will be available against Forest.
The midfielder suffered an ankle injury in Saturday’s defeat to Norwich City but has recovered well.
Ben Wiles is also expected to recover from a calf problem as Rotherham bid to end a run of three consecutive defeats.