Striker Paul Taylor should follow the example of midfielder Anthony Wordsworth if he wants to win a place in the Town team, according to manager Mick McCarthy.

Taylor has been unable to establish himself in the Blues side and more recently the matchday 18 following his lengthy absence with a foot injury sustained shortly after he joined the club from Peterborough for £1.5 million in the summer of 2012.

The Liverpudlian missed Saturday’s trip to Blackburn as he was ill but travelled to Huddersfield for tonight’s game with the rest of the squad.

McCarthy says he’s told Taylor that Wordsworth’s recent return to the first-team picture illustrates what can happen.

“I had that discussion with Tayls, just to make sure that he keeps his own standards up,” he said. “Whatever they think about the manager, whether it’s me or somebody else, at any club, this is not a competition or an argument or a fight between me and players or players and me.

“Whatever it might be, the top or bottom of the leagues, it’s about them doing the best that they can for their careers, and me doing the best that I can as I see fit for the team.

“I said to him, did he foresee Woody coming in and playing those two games and playing as well as he did? The answer to that was that he didn’t. I said ‘Well, that shows you how football changes so quickly’.

“But you’ve got to keep standards up and why Woody got in was because he had. He trained well, he played well in the U21s, he got in and he did really well.”

McCarthy says players need to keep plugging away when they have setbacks, just like anyone else in any job.

He added: “He’s all right, he’s trained OK and he’s got to keep going, hasn’t he?

“You all get knockbacks in your jobs, what do you do? They don’t just pack-up and stop playing, they’ve got to keep going.

“Anybody that’s out of the team, the only way to get back in is to do their best. He trained [on Sunday] and he’ll be travelling.”

The likes of Taylor and Wordsworth have found it tough to break into what’s been a consistent first XI this season, stability which McCarthy believes has been beneficial.

“It’s been good for us,” he said. “They’re all capable of playing the games and keeping a settled side has been good.

“If you’ve got loads of players, which I don’t, you could be thinking about chopping and changing.

"But I don’t do it anyway, I’m loyal to players, I don’t think one bad game deserves them dropping out, particularly when they’ve been playing well over chunks of games, over weeks and months. I think it’s been good for us that it’s been a settled side.”

Might he look to move Taylor on in the close season? “I don’t know what we’ll be doing in the summer yet. We’ll have a look and see what we’ve got towards the end of the season.

"He’s still under contract and whatever the decision is I’m not going to tell you about any of them!”

Photo: Action Images

jabberjackson added 07:49 - Apr 8 Tara then Tayls
2

WhoisJimmyJuan added 07:55 - Apr 8 Hmm. Tricky. Can't complain about the league position, but feel for our die hard fans (match day regulars by that I mean) who have watched what has been on the whole less than exciting football from us. (I live too far from PR to go too often). Its a fine line between making a player hungry and making them want to look elsewhere for games. If the latter happens, that's OK as long as you replace them with better players. I suspect both will be off this summer, and if that happens, we need to bring in better, creative attack-minded players and that is neither easy or cheap.

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PavlovsCat added 08:22 - Apr 8 Taylor is no Rhodes, but if/when MM ships him out, I can see the decision biting us in the arse one day.
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bontcho added 08:24 - Apr 8 WhoisJimmyJuan - I'm pretty sure MM knows we need more creativity. He's shown that by signing Williams. And i'm sure he'll be targetting those kind of players in the summer (we're pretty obviously going to get at least one winger for instance). MM is building the team/squad the old way by getting them organised first and then gradually adding to it, and I like that. I'm sure we'd love to be rid of Taylor's million pound signing wages - but who will take him?

0

yerfdog87 added 08:49 - Apr 8 Speaking to david wright. Taylor on the training pitch is lazy n he's work ethic is awful. He won't get in the team because he won't put the effort in like the other players. If you don't do it in training then you won't play. Chopra was the same, big egos for little men. Get rid
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lilcornishblue added 09:49 - Apr 8 ....follow woody's example??....get back in team play really well and then get dropped!!.....football is no ordinary job but this hardly motivates people to do well. This, as with any player situation , would be better understood if the manager came out and explained his reasons.....but he cant and would be unprofessional so we have to suck it up....doesn,t make supporters any less restless though....and agree with Pavlovscat....another potential decision that cold bite us in the furture

1

SouperJim added 10:04 - Apr 8 Woody has started 3 out of the last 4 games, so the suggestion that he was "dropped" is clearly wrong. Yes, he was rested for one game, as the manager felt that to come in from the cold and play 3 in a week was too big an ask.
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TimmyH added 11:09 - Apr 8 Saw the headline and thought...and yes Paul you can get dropped too even if you perform well.
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battyblue added 11:17 - Apr 8 Mick you have been staying loyal to certain players who under-perform week in week out that's not playing your best team imp
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BillBlue added 11:45 - Apr 8 Yes but even worse, training and match playing are two totally different occasions, just ask the older players who are still around, it used to be a joke. It is McCarthy's dogged personality which has caused all those dropped points this year. Yes, we are higher up the table than for several years but at what cost to the lack of paying customers and to the Ipswich reputation.

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braveblue added 17:59 - Apr 8 What absolute garbage. If Taylor gets man of the match he is dropped anyway.
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braveblue added 17:59 - Apr 8 What absolute garbage. If Taylor gets man of the match he is dropped anyway.
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muccletonjoe added 18:08 - Apr 8 I would not play him and I don't blame mm for not wanting him in the side. Get what we can for him and show the door.
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spanishblue added 21:54 - Apr 8 Oh well the boring genius has got a good result well done MM and the team and the travelling fans great performance by all well doom and gloom what now
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