Earnshaw's double moves him closer to the record he has pledged to shatter

Nottingham Forest’s new £2.65m signing Rob Earnshaw has vowed to challenge the club’s 57-year old goalscoring record this season - and the Wales international matched the deed to the word with two crisp strikes as Sammy McIlroy’s outclassed Morecambe side were run ragged.

Wally Ardron’s record of 36 goals has stood since the 1950-51 season and Earnshaw’s bold claim looked bogus as three chances went begging before he darted onto a through ball from teenage debutant Joe Heath to add another goal to Chris Cohen’s 15th minute screamer from a free-kick.

Strike one: Rob Earnshaw beats Barry Roche of Morecambe for the first of his two goals

Sub Adam Newbold ran onto Cohen’s pass to make it three with an angled shot and  Cohen shared the credit again when Earnshaw skipped away from his marker to draw the goalkeeper expertly and slide in his second goal off the far post.

Some fans were less than than thrilled when Forest signed the Welsh international from rivals Derby County but manager Colin Calderwood insisted: 'I always believed he could come here and be a hero.

'Those two goals showed what he’s capable of doing but above all I was impressed with the attitude we showed in tackling a side that knocked both Preston and Wolves out of this competition last season.'

McIlroy admitted: 'We were still in with a chance when we had a good spell at 1-0 just after the break but Forest have tremendous quality and we just couldn’t deal with their passing and movement. Their final ball was lethal.'