Blues boss Kieran McKenna says forward Conor Chaplin is having a really strong season and plays a massive role for Town.

Chaplin, last season’s 29-goal top scorer, has so far netted seven times during this campaign, the joint-highest alongside Nathan Broadhead.

“He's having a really strong season, no doubt about it,” McKenna said of the 26-year-old.

“I’ve said many times before that he's a massive cultural leader for us here in the club in how he trains every day, his values as a person, how he looks after his teammates, but also pushes and challenges everyone to keep bettering themselves in the way that he keeps trying to better himself.
 
“So he has a massive role for us. Of course, on the pitch he's having a really strong season. It is certainly a big step-up.
 
“Like all the other players, he feels that the level of the opposition and the defenders against him is higher, but he keeps adapting.

“He keeps trying to find different solutions within his game to overcome each challenge that he's presented with. Certainly teams have tried different ways to defend against us and different ways to defend against our relationships on each side of the pitch. 
 
“For example, how to defend against our relationships on the right-hand side of the pitch. But Conor is always thirsty to keep improving and keep trying to find different solutions that can help him effect the game on and off the ball.

“Then what he has carried up, we all know his finishing ability. Anything in the penalty area and, to be fair, this year he could have scored two goals from 45 yards out.

“But in general, anything in the penalty area we know that he's a really good finisher. In that aspect, no matter what level you go up to, the goal is the same size. Conor, certainly, is someone who is in the right position knows how to find certain parts of the net.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Woolfenthen added 17:30 - Dec 7 incredible player
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