Taylor strikes the right note

MASTER MARKSMAN . . . Chris Taylor celebrates one of his six goals for Athletic this season.

CHRIS TAYLOR’S run of goalscoring form has come as no surprise to Athletic boss John Sheridan.

Taylor is the only non-striker among League One’s top marksmen after his double at Hartlepool on Saturday made it six goals already this season.

The winger has been rewarded for spending more time in the opposition box, sniffing out chances and looking to pounce at the far post.

Best of all, he’s scoring tap-ins as well as 20-yarders – and after seeing Taylor pass his total for the whole of last season, Sheridan set him a new target.

The manager said: “Chris has been in the right place at the right time and he’s showing what he’s capable of doing.

“I’ve always felt he had it in his game, but maybe one or two things just took a while to sink in or come through.

“He could have finished with a hat-trick on Saturday when he opened it up and had a good shot which the ’keeper did well to save.

“He has got six goals in seven games, so you’d like to think he will end up with a dozen, or hopefully more, by the end of the season.”

Taylor, whose all-round form continues to impress, needed 52 outings to break his senior duck.

That happened at Carlisle in March 2007 and he ended the season with four goals.

Last term he moved up to five, but it was still a modest output for someone of obvious talent who made 50 appearances.

Sheridan wants goals from every department – and in Taylor, Andy Liddell and Danny Whitaker he has three attack-minded players who can all contribute well from midfield.

Whitaker, who has made an impressive start to his Boundary Park career, is also being encouraged to exploit the danger zone.

And the former Port Vale man is confident of chipping in with a double-figure haul.

Whitaker said: “My best asset is getting into decent areas and I’ve usually ended up with 10 or 12 goals a season.

“The way we play allows me to get forward whenever I can, so I would be happy to score the same amount again.

“Myself and Mark Allott have a good relationship in midfield – he holds back more than I do, which means I can express myself.

“As a team we are focused on keeping our run going, but I’ve been quite pleased with my performances and I’m trying to get on the end of things.”

The current top scorers in Athletic’s division (league only) are: 8 Rickie Lambert (Bristol Rovers); 7 Jermaine Beckford (Leeds), Gary Hooper (Scunthorpe); 6 Matty Fryatt (Leicester), Danny Graham (Carlisle), Chris Taylor (Athletic), Craig Mackail-Smith (Peterborough); 5 Lee Hughes (Athletic).