Walker praise for 'hammer foot'

Walker, 37 on Tuesday, says the 19-year-old he calls "hammer foot" reminds him a little of one of Forest's past players - Jonny Metgod.

The Forest captain, who won 59 England caps, said in the Sun newspaper: "In all my years in the game, I've never seen a youngster strike the ball as well as Michael does.

"The best before Michael was Johnny Metgod and it could be argued he was essentially a midfielder.

"But when Johnny used to play in the back four for Forest he could ping the ball around all day, such was his range of passing.

"Michael may be only 19, but he's got great authority, not just with his passing but everything he does on the football field - he's even bossing me around now!"

"The great thing about Michael is he is such a level-headed lad," he added.

"With his natural ability, his character and his commitment, you can only see him developing into a top-class player. But he knows as well as anyone he has just got to keep his head down."