The West Brom manager has been mightily impressed by what he has seen in training from on-loan Tottenham striker, Will Lankshear, during his first weeks at the club. The boss has also sent a clear message about the striker’s prospects of game time over the coming months.
Will Lankshear is getting his first taste of senior football
Will Lankshear has been banging in the goals at an astonishing frequency in youth football over the last couple of years and the teenager broke into the Tottenham first-team earlier this season, netting his first senior goal in the club’s 3–2 away defeat to Galatasaray.
The striker has joined West Bromwich Albion on loan until the end of the season and he has already shown some glimpses of his quality for the Championship side, which have excited the Baggies supporters.
The Tottenham academy graduate made his first start for the club in their 1-1 draw away at Millwall on Saturday, playing 57 minutes before being replaced by Karlan Grant.
Tony Mowbray impressed with Tottenham’s Will Lankshear
Lankshear is yet to find the back of the net for West Brom, but it turns out that he is catching the eye of boss Tony Mowbray in training.
The experienced English coach made it clear that the Spurs loanee can offer a lot to his side and confirmed that he will get game time over the coming months.
Speaking ahead of his side’s trip to Millwall, Mowbray told Birmingham Mail: “I think Lankshear did well when he came on the other day, but he’s been very impressive in training. He’s extremely strong for a 19-year-old boy, he has immense power in both feet, he has intelligence and I’ll be giving him game-time.
“The option will be sometimes to play Armstrong and Lankshear I suppose. Arma can play anywhere along the front. It’ll depend on what we need.
“You need to put players with goals against their name on the pitch. I am encouraged by young Will. He looks really exciting in training and, yes, we got Armstrong at the last minute who, in my mind, is guaranteed goals if you give him enough game time, but Will will be given an opportunity to play and hopefully, he forces his way in.”
How did Lankshear do in his first start for West Brom?
Lankshear‘s full debut for West Brom proved a challenging outing for the young striker, who was feeding on scraps and chasing lost causes all game as the Baggies defended deep and played on the counter-attack against Millwall.
The striker hardly had any opportunity of note in what turned out to be a cagey affair at the Den.
Express and Star handed the Tottenham man a rating of six out of 10 and wrote about his display: “A full debut not as memorable as the Tottenham teen would have hoped. Good start to lay on Armstrong’s chance but little more to shout about for the striker. Worked hard. Quiet.”