Danny Cowley issues honest message on Tyler Walker’s stint away from Coventry at Portsmouth

Danny Cowley has managed to lead Portsmouth into the top half of the League One table this season but one signing that hasn’t worked out for the boss so far is that of Tyler Walker.

With the player managing only four starts for parent club Coventry this season, he was allowed to head out of the club and play at Fratton Park on a short-term basis instead.

Rather than thrive given more gametime though, the forward has instead struggled. He’s played slightly more – 15 league games and nine starts for Pompey attest to that that – but he’s only hit the back of the net on one occasion and has flattered to deceive in some of his showings.

With the season coming to a close, the player will head back to the Sky Blues in the summer with his deal set to come to an end. Danny Cowley though might not be rushing to bring him back to the club, as he today admitted to The News that it ‘hasn’t worked’ for the player yet and hasn’t ‘clicked’ in terms of his performances.

He still has a few weeks left yet to try and turn it around and end his spell with Portsmouth on a high, but with other strikers now emerging as better options ahead of him, his chances may be slim in these last few games of the season.

With Cowley familiar with Walker as well, more was probably expected from him. However, even the manager has admitted it hasn’t gone too well yet, as he told The News: “[It’s] not [clicked] yet.

“It’s the life of the number nine and Tyler is someone we know really well as we’ve worked with him before, and he’s been successful in our teams before. He did brilliantly for Lincoln while we were there. To this point it hasn’t worked, but it hasn’t been for the want of trying.”

The Verdict

Portsmouth will have wanted to see more from the forward