Forest legend Des Walker praised for his part in shaping Mansfield Town hat-trick hero Tyler

Tyler is on loan for the season from Forest and his hat-trick, including two ice cool penalties, in Tuesday night’s 6-1 thrashing of Accrington Stanley underlined his quality.

“The kid is pure class. You can see from his upbringing from his dad that he has been honest with him,” said Flitcroft.

“He’s not like an academy player. He gets up, he is robust, he wants to run and he does run. I love working with the kid and he’s deserved that.

“He is a learner. Him and Craig Davies stayed out yesterday to do more work. He is always asking for more. But he has had the right upbringing.

“You work with some academy players and they are soft. Tyler is a tough nut.

“You can see his dad has given him tough love and fantastic values – great family values.

“And he has brought them to Mansfield Town and is representing us. He led the line brilliantly against Accrington and he totally deserved the hat-trick.”

Flitcroft was impressed by Walker’s penalty taking prowess.

“The first penalty there was no doubt,” he said. “The second one can sometimes be difficult when you have already scored one. It’s a bit cat and mouse and mind games with the keeper. But he absolutely dispatched it perfectly.

“For the third goal, he nearly got that same goal on Saturday, running across his man. He is elusive in the box and pure class.”

Delighted with Walker’s triple, the manager added: “The only trouble was he couldn’t have the actual ball as Danny Rose booted it over the stand!”