Birmingham City: Maik Taylor still going strong

Nov 6 2010 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

MAIK Taylor showed that there was life in the old dog yet with his penalty shoot-out heroics in the Carling Cup.

The 39-year-old stopped Brentford’s fifth spot-kick and put Blues into the quarter-finals and a cracking tie against Villa.

Whether Alex McLeish keeps faith in his cup team on December 1 – Taylor played in the previous two rounds at Ben Foster’s expense – remains to be seen.

But for Taylor, the dramatic finale to the Bees game jogged a few memories.

“It was a good opportunity for me,” he said. “Ben’s done a great job for us this season, I can’t have any complaints.

“It was just nice to get a game under my belt and let people know I’m still about.

“I still have faith in my ability, that I won’t let anyone down when I do get a shout.

“It’s not that easy coming into the team cold. But I’ve kept myself sharp playing for Northern Ireland and fortunately in the Brentford game I was able to contribute and we got through.”