3 days ago
Jack Taylor hopes he made ‘big opportunity' count in Ireland's friendly against Luxembourg and will earn starting place
JACK Taylor hopes that Ireland's problems do not overshadow his own performance as he bids to be a regular for the September World Cup qualifiers.
Ipswich Town midfielder Taylor got his big Ireland breakthrough this month as he made
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Taylor made his first start for Ireland in the 1-1 draw with Senegal on Friday
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The Ipswich Town midfielder is knocking on the door of a starting place for Ireland
And while the whole window is coloured by Ireland's poor performance in the
He said: 'I knew there was a good chance of me starting, especially friendlies, to feed some new lads in who haven't had the opportunity yet.
'I knew it was a big opportunity for me so I came in with a strong mindset to force myself into the manager's mind.
'There is a context to it (the performance against Luxembourg), last day of the season for all the lads, all the lads know they are going on holiday tomorrow.
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'A bit of that comes into play, we have prepared so well coming into this camp and all the lads know the standards weren't where we had set them before.
'We know we need to improve for the next camp but Senegal, I think we can take a lot of positives from it.
'September is a long way away, everyone has got to stay fit and make sure they are in top condition for that window.
'But you have to take the positives out of it, we have come away from home against a side on paper you might say we should probably beat, but they have some dangerous players.
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'We have come away, got a clean sheet, so there are definitely positives to take but we know going forward, we definitely have to improve.'
But Taylor emerged with credit over the week with a good performance against Senegal and a decent cameo against Luxembourg when he struck the crossbar with a late effort.
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Taylor shrugged: 'I just watched it back, I thought he (the goalkeeper) touched it to be fair but he didn't.
'It came out to me, I took a touch and my eyes sorta lit up a little bit. I had taken a touch and just hit it as hard as I could.
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'But unfortunately, it has come off the underside of the bar. Next time, I will score that.'
The 26-year-old could potentially provide a goal threat from midfield.
He scored 30 goals in 210 league starts for Barnet and Peterborough earlier in his career, and has had half-chances for Ireland to date.
It is why he has been on the Ireland radar so long having impressed Mick McCarthy in a training game against the Under-21s in 2019 when he was still with non-league Barent.
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Stephen Kenny, who capped him at Under-21 level, then called up him several times in 2020 and 2022, before Taylor got his break under Heimir Hallgrímsson last year.
But Taylor hopes his versatility as he can play in any of the midfield positions can stand to him as Hallgrímsson often selects sides with the opposition in mind.
He continued: 'I can play numerous positions, can do all of them, to be fair. I don't really have a set position.
'I just want to get the boys playing good football, fast-flowing football, so happy to play where called upon.
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'We are definitely improving and we can only get better and everyone can just bring their individual qualities to the team and I think we will strive on from here.'
