Maik Taylor No1 again
last updated Wednesday 06th June 2001, 11:25 AM
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Maik
Taylor
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Fulham's Maik Taylor knows his reign as Northern
Ireland's new first-choice goalkeeper could be a brief one if he makes any
mistakes against the Czech Republic on Wednesday.
Taylor got the nod for the match against Bulgaria after Roy Carroll had
made one error too many for manager Sammy McIlroy.
Taylor is delighted to be wearing the number one jersey again after watching
five of Northern Ireland's previous six games from the substitutes' bench.
However, the Fulham stopper realises the hard work is just beginning and
that one slip could cost him his place.
"I was really pleased to play on Saturday and that shows that Sammy
is going to be fair with his selection," he said. "Hopefully I
can do well enough to keep the jersey. It's up to me now to hold down the
position and I know if I make mistakes then the manager will have no hesitation
in putting Roy back in. "But I believe there's no point a player thinking
he's guaranteed a starting place anyway. "I believe that unless the
competition is really strong, you can slip into easy mode. "It's good
to have competition and hopefully that will bring out the best in us."
Taylor's delight at winning his first cap since February was tempered by
Northern Ireland's 1-0 defeat.
The Fulham keeper was arguably the pick of the Irish players and he made
a couple of great saves to deny the Bulgarians.
That was of little consolation to him and he said: "To be honest, irrespective
of how you have played, if you get beat then you know there's room for improvement."
The defeat was Northern Ireland's fifth in succession - and their fourth
in a row in their World Cup qualifying campaign. They remain fifth in Group
Three with four points and have scored in just one of their last five matches.
Not exactly the best of form going into the match in Teplice against the
Czechs, who lost 2-1 to Denmark on Saturday.And on top of all this, the
Irish are without 10 players because of injury and suspension.
Taylor, though, refuses to be downcast and he is adamant Northern Ireland
are a better team than the statistics suggest.
"The lads don't feel we have performed too badly," he said."It's
just a case of keep believing. We have got to keep digging in and I believe
things will turn for us. "If you look at the statistics, we certainly
created more chances than Bulgaria, but it just wasn't to be.
"Out of all the games there have only been one or two where we have
deserved to be beaten and we deserved something from the rest of them. "It
can't keep going on like that and I believe over time that things will change
for us. "The Czech Republic will be a massive test for us and even
with a full-strength squad we would be up against it. "But these are
the sort of big games you relish as a player and they don't come much bigger
than this."
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Source Ananova
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