Although at 23 Connor Taylor can certainly still be referred to as a young player, the Bristol Rovers defender is well on track to finish this season with over 150 senior appearances which, given his age, can certainly be commended.
Already, the centre-back has played a pivotal part in a League Two promotion push on loan at Rovers, had a taste of playing regularly in the Championship for his boyhood club Stoke City and become a frequent fixture back with the Gas as a permanent player in League One. There were also brief loan spells in non-league with Ashton United and Chester in the 2020/21 season.
There is no doubt that in a squad full of players in their early 20s, Taylor is in the bracket of those with the highest ceilings and it would be a surprise if he doesn’t go on to achieve more than playing frequently in League One for a bottom half side. However, the defender is starting to edge closer to that point where he will be expected to take that next step in his development.
Despite a concerning number of goals conceded as a team, Taylor has arguably been playing his best football for the Gas in recent months and is certainly showing signs of making that progress permanent. It’s not just as a footballer where the 23-year-old is growing but as a person too with his first child due in May.
In the centre-back’s eyes though, there’s one clear area of his game that has been targeted for the next stage of development.
“I want to make myself into more of a leader on the pitch,” Taylor told Bristol Live. “That’s probably the next step for me.
“It’s just about playing games. You constantly improve by playing as many games as you can. Playing against all different types of strikers. Ways to adapt, whether you’re playing high or deep, defending your box deep or defending on the halfway line. Playing as many games will eventually bring me on.
“That’s the recruitment we’ve gone down,” the towering defender added on developing as a leader in this largely young squad. “We’ve still got experience in the team but that’s probably the next step for me.
“I think it took me a while to get going with the interrupted pre-season and the knee surgery but I feel good now. I feel really good, enjoying my football and I just want to keep building.”
A change in management always offers opportunity for players struggling for game time while also reminding the regular starters of the previous regime that their places in the side aren’t guaranteed. Admittedly though, there’s been no evidence that Inigo Calderon is looking to go with an alternative centre-back pairing, with the options currently at his disposal for the remainder of the season, than Taylor alongside the experienced James Wilson.
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Although there was a degree of fortune about it, Rovers did secure their first clean sheet under Calderon last time out in League One with a 1-0 victory at Cambridge United as the Spaniard looks to tighten things up at the back on top of improving the Gas’ goalscoring output.
Taylor has started all four games under Calderon as well as Rovers’ last 13 League One matches and, although last weekend’s FA Cup exit at Premier League Ipswich Town was a setback, the defender insisted that he and his teammates know what they have to do to ensure that the Gas distance themselves from relegation threat quickly.
“I think it’s quite clear he wants us to make more passes,” Taylor said on Calderon’s arrival. “He’s not naive to think we’re going to go make 25 passes. He doesn’t want us to do that, but he definitely wants us to make more passes which will allow us to progress up the pitch.
“First and foremost in League One, you’ve got to win your first contacts, defend crosses. But then again, with this manager there’s bigger emphasis on building from the back and giving the lads a platform to attack.
“We’re under no illusions about where we are in the league,” the defender added. “We fully understand gettings wins and points on the board is vitally important. You’ve got to realise it now because you don’t want to get to March and you think, ‘oh we’re in a bit of trouble’.
“So hopefully we can put a few performances together which will then mean results and we get pulled away from the bottom four.”