Martin Taylor plays a full game for Birmingham City reserves

Apr 1 2008 By Colin Tattum

MARTIN Taylor completed another 90 minutes in last night's reserve defeat by Aston Villa.

With Liam Ridgewell and Franck Queudrue both suspended for Saturday's game at Wigan, Taylor is back in contention for a first-team recall.

Partnering Rafael Schmitz, another possibility to fill the breach, Taylor performed with much more urgency than on his comeback a fortnight ago.

Manager Alex McLeish over-looked him last Saturday for Manchester City's visit as he said he wanted to assess him when he was 'really going for it'.

Taylor coasted through his other reserve outing against Spurs, which resembled a media circus as camera crews and reporters recorded his every move in the wake of the Eduardo affair.

Captaining the team at Villa Park he immediately made his presence felt, leaving Patrik Berger on his backside by quickly taking the ball off him from behind.

Taylor might also have scored from Semih Aydilek's cross but his header was directed straight at Stuart Taylor.

He kept his focus throughout, leaping strongly to win headers, and performed in his usual unhurried manner on the deck.

It was a competitive derby but there were no rash tackles by Taylor, who prefers to use brain not brawn in any case and stand up against his opponents.

Blues' youngsters passed the ball impressively and they deserved better than a 1-0 defeat. A little more composure in front of goal and Blues could easily have snatched victory.