Peter Taylor wants more players to show leadership skills as he looks to organise squad for trip to Carlisle
Peter Taylor says more of his players need to show strong leadership skills when on the pitch.
with keeper Stuart Nelson taking the arm band, but Peter says all members of his squad should have a voice when on the field.Tuesday night at StevenageThe Gills Manager rested usual skipper Adam Barrett on
he said: “I think a lot of the players have got to stand up themselves and look after their team-mates by voicing instructions a bit more.Speaking to the club website
“I think he [Stuart Nelson] quite enjoyed being Captain; he loves it here, he’s had a good season and has a good relationship with everybody.
“I think he would have liked to have kept a clean sheet and won the match but there is always an opportunity for that; we shouldn’t rely on Adam to be the sole leader.
“I just felt the time was right to save some legs and we lost the match and people will say it’s a bad decision but we have lost matches before with those two people in the team.
“It doesn’t mean you are going to win if they play.
“He [Barrett] is a fantastic captain and a proud professional footballer so he wouldn’t want to be left out even if it was a game of tiddlywinks.
“He would want to play, but I have to be fair with everybody to see what I think is going to be right for the match.”
, and admitted conceding the third so soon after getting back in the game killed the game off.Stevenage despite losing 3-1Peter said he was very proud of the performance at
He added: “We had just had a tough game here on the Saturday on a heavy pitch so I’m sure the boys were feeling a touch tired but they showed great determination to keep passing the ball and keep creating chances to try and get us a result.
“It’s only, unfortunately, some very disappointing defending that cost us – I think on the ball we did some good things.
“The third goal for me was a really frustrating goal because, to me, the ball wasn’t good enough by Stevenage and we should have handled it much better than we did.
“That was frustrating because once we got a goal back then we would have asked a few questions – we needed to stay in it a bit longer, we needed to set up another attack and get them more nervous and who knows what might have happened, but when the third goal went in that killed us.”
Elliott Hewitt will miss Saturday’s trip to Carlisle due to suspension, and Peter said the full back will learn from his decision making.
minute, when there is a fair chance you will be sent off and they have a fair chance of scoring the penalty, if you can’t stop it the correct way then let it go.thHe said: “Elliott now is really disappointed what he has done. If it was in the last minute I could understand that, but in the 20
“If it meant we went a goal down then with 11 men we still have plenty of time to get it back but that’s all a part of the learning situation – it has probably happened to a lot of people in the past in the early part of their careers.”
Connor Smith and Callum Davies were also given starts midweek – it remains to be seen if they will keep their places but Taylor was pleased to be able to involve them both.
He added: “I don’t know exactly how supporters see Connor but he is a very good attacking midfield player that can play wide, as a wing back or in the middle. What people saw the other day is that he can get the ball off the back four, run with the ball and he is a very skilled player.
“I think people will certainly appreciate him in a couple of games time.
“I think Callum was disappointed with himself with the first goal because he got outrun by one of the strikers but he got better the longer the gamer went because he was getting used to it.
“He hasn’t had a great deal of Football because of my selection, that’s not his fault. In that respect he needs more matches but I’m pleased I involved him. Adam Barrett and Michael Harriman to me both looked a bit tired on Saturday.”
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hereFor our official match preview ahead of the trip to Carlisle, click