Taylor denies link with Posh
Reporter: Matthew Chambers
Date published: 15 August 2011
FRUSTRATED winger Chris Taylor is blocking out speculation linking him with a move away from Boundary Park.
Athletic's most prized possession is the subject of a rumoured £200,000 bid from npower Championship new-boys Peterborough.
Both parties have poured cold water on talk of a deal — Athletic chief executive Alan Hardy said he had no knowledge of any Posh bid — and the winger reiterated his desire to work on lifting the club's early-season gloom, starting tomorrow at Scunthorpe United.
"No, definitely not," said Taylor, when asked if he knew about any bids for his services following Athletic's disappointing 3-1 loss at Yeovil, a second successive defeat in League One.
"I concentrate on winning when I get out on to the field and all I think about is Oldham.
"It is upsetting, the start we have made. It hurts.
"I think I have been getting a bit too frustrated in games — not at Yeovil, I kept my cool — and it is to do with a lack of getting the ball.
"I just need to keep calm and keep getting in positions where I can hurt teams."
Athletic suffered a pre-match blow at Huish Park with the news that captain Dean Furman requires surgery to repair his knee cartilage.
The 23-year-old sees a specialist this week and will then have an operation, but at present the severity of the damage and the recovery time is unknown.
With Matthew Lund returning in Furman's place to partner James Wesolowski in the centre of the field, Athletic only played in patches as Yeovil took a lead, and full control, in the second half — a worrying trend and one Taylor can't quite put his finger on.
"Yeovil is a tough place to come to and there is no getting away from that," said the Athletic winger.
"You have to work hard to get three points here and after the first 25 minutes, we got on top. Half-time came at a bad time for us.
"We made some good chances and it is a shame we didn't take them.
"Unfortunately, in the second half we started OK but fell to a sucker-punch first goal. It was out of nothing.
"I don't know how to put my finger on why this is happening in the second half of games. But we all need to pick up.
"It is not the start to the season we were looking for by a long way.
"We need to knuckle down, get together and look to the next match at Scunthorpe.
"It is a very tough game in a very difficult league where there are no easy points.
"We had to get that first goal at Yeovil which would have made it a different game. But it is all 'ifs' and 'buts'."
Taylor also admitted that the enforced absence of the influential Furman was significant.
"It is a massive blow." he added. "We haven't got the biggest squad, as everyone knows.
"To lose any player would be a blow, but we have lost a very good player like Furms who is the key to our midfield. It is a big loss."
