Nottingham Forest Loan Talent Has ‘Pace And Power’ But Lincoln Boss Urges Consistency | OneFootball

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Lincoln City boss Michael Skubala has praised Nottingham Forest loanee Joe Gardner for his ability to excite the fans by going past players using his pace and power, but wants to see consistency from him.

Gardner spent the first part of the season with his parent club Nottingham Forest, featuring 12 times in the Premier League 2 and registering eight goal contributions in the process.

The 19-year-old forward then joined Lincoln in the winter transfer window on loan until the end of the season to gain first-team experience and has since made six appearances for the League One club, finding the back of the net on two occasions.

His latest strike came on Tuesday night as Lincoln crushed Crawley Town 4-1 in a League One fixture.

Skubala believes playing Gardner in the wide areas has allowed him to showcase his ability to go past people using his strength and speed, which has excited the Lincoln fans.

The Imps boss admitted that the club knows that the Nottingham Forest loanee has huge potential but insisted that the young forward has to perform consistently if he wants to have a big future in the game.

He told Lincoln’s official channel (1:56): “Everybody at the club knows what Joe’s potential is, and I’ve said what Joe’s potential is. His challenge is now exactly to go out and do it consistently.

“He has got pace and power, and he can excite people and get past people.

“Using him a little bit in the wide areas at times has really helped him and other times he hasn’t looked the part we want him to look and that’s partly on him to go and show his consistency and what he can do.

“I thought again he was very, very good on Tuesday night [against Crawley Town] and caused some real problems.”

Nottingham Forest will hope that their young forward will continue his development at Lincoln for the remainder of the season, with senior football in League One handing Gardner valuable experience.

Gardner has made one senior appearance for Nottingham Forest so far in his career, turning out for the City Ground outfit in an FA Cup tie against Bristol City last season.