3/1 To Win
Derby County’s Under-23s returned to winning ways in emphatic style on Monday night, as Darren Wassall’s side displayed their offensive quality by grabbing seven goals against Birmingham City in the Premier League Cup.
Lewis Walker was the star of the show on the night and the striker helped himself to four goals, as he made the most of a place in the starting XI after having to bide his time in the recent weeks and months.
It was a clinical display from the 18-year-old, and he paid tribute to his teammates after securing his first four-goal haul for many years.
Speaking to RamsTV, Walker said: “I haven’t scored four in a game since I played Sunday league, so it was a few years back now.
“The lads put the chances on a plate for me. Kech [Ikechi Anya] put one on a plate for me in the six-yard box, Luke as well, and with the last one I’ve just made a good run, slipped the ball through and it was a good finish.
“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.
Wassall fielded a young side against Birmingham, with Ikechi Anya the only senior name included from the start.
Walker explained why this may have contributed to the quality of the performance, and he expressed his delight at being given the opportunity to perform.
He said: “Because we train together every day, we become used to each other.
“With Luke, a lot of the time you’ll just let him run with it because that’s what he’s in the team for and what he’s good at.
“Sometimes we have to make way for the first team players so that they can get back fit, and there have been players that have been better than me but now they’ve gone on loan so it’s given me the opportunity to express myself.
“We’ve had a young team for the last year-and-a-half, so we don’t rely on the older players to tell us what to do.”
Liverpool and Manchester United are next up for the Under-23s, and Walker is confident that the team can recreate the winning run that they had against the big sides earlier this season.
“On Monday, we scored seven goals against a good team that play good football, and that will give us confidence to go on and beat the big teams, like we were doing before the run ended,” he added.
“When we got to five games without a win, we had to take a step back and ask ourselves what we were doing wrong, so it’s nice to get the win and get back on track.”
