Port Vale defender Ryan Taylor has shed light on the dressing room morale following their first win in five league games, the last coming away at MK Dons in early October.
Taylor has been at the club for just under a month now, and has settled into the dressing room and the starting XI without any concern.
Taylor spoke exclusively to Valiant PlayerHD yesterday about joining a team with a variety of nationalities and languages within: “When you walk into the dressing room you can see that it is a tight-knit group, when sometimes it can be totally different. With the different nationalities and languages, sometimes cliques are formed and that is not the case.
The defender added: “Everyone seems to be pulling in the same direction, and that’s something that the manager breeds here, he wants everyone to play for each other. It’s not the case of you’re the individual you play on your own.”
Taylor had been out of action before joining the Valiants on a short-term deal, and is grateful for the chance he has been presented with: “For me it was great to come back and play football again, but it always makes it that more enjoyable when the lads are all pulling in one direction and welcome you with open arms.
“I feel like I have settled in really well. I have got to know some players really quickly. I feel like since I came in, I have gained the respect as a teammate and I always will and always have respected anyone that has played football because I know how tough it is.”
As for the 32-year olds fitness, games have been coming thick and fast in all competitions and will continue do so as the Christmas period looms, but Taylor is feeling good in himself as he strives for more minutes on the pitch: “I feel good. It was a case of when I came here, the first game I lasted 80 minutes against Oxford and I was really pleased because I hadn’t really played since the fifth round of the FA Cup last year against Arsenal.”
With the defender coming to the latter stages of his career, he realizes that it is crucial to get minutes under his belt whilst he is still able to: “It is always on the back of your mind about how long you think you will last, but the fact that I am coming through 90 minutes and feeling great when I come off, not feeling bad the next day and recovering well, it’s all going the way I would want it too.
He added: “If I was coming off the pitch and you had to carry me for a few days then I would start worrying, but I feel great. I’m just delighted that I am playing again and I look forward to the next few weeks.”
Taylor will be looking to get more minutes under his belt as Vale travel to Charlton Athletic this weekend, as the Vale try and keep in touch with the play-off places.