DES WALKER saw Joe Worrall and Oliver Burke take their first steps in the game with Nottingham Forest as they lined up alongside his son Tyler more than a decade ago.
Now the pair will be on opposite sides of the Old Firm divide at Parkhead on Sunday as the former Reds kids battle for supremacy in blue and green.
Both Worrall and Burke emerged through the Forest youth ranks but their paths that have taken them to Glasgow have been somewhat different.
The Englishman has made the switch in search of first team football after falling down the pecking order at the City Ground but he still harbours ambitions of making his name under the guidance of Martin O’Neill.
The future is more uncertain for Scotland star Burke, though. After leaving Forest for RB Leipzig in a multi-million deal, he is now on loan at Parkhead from West Bromwich Albion as he tries to re-establish himself.
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“Oli played up front with my son, so they both played together,” Walker said of Worrall and Burke as he looked ahead to Sunday’s Old Firm showdown.. “They will know each other and they are both good players that have battled their way up. They have come through different routes but have got to the same place. It is who really adapts to the pressure of the game because it is a big game. Oli will know Joe’s weaknesses, but vice versa.
“It will be an interesting game for me because they are two kids I have known since they were nine or 10. It is great when you see the kids and they go on and forge a career for themselves. That is what it is about.
“When you are a coach, people look ahead. Those games are not that far away but you have got to concentrate on getting the best out of yourself today and you never know where you can end up. These boys have done that.
“They have found their path. Oli’s came quite quick and it was move, move, move, whereas Joe has had to build and build and he got a great chance when Stevie came in for him on loan and he has taken full advantage of it.”
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