Many supporters are doubtful about Derby County’s chances of promotion as a result of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s injury, but one player needs to come up in the last stretch.
As we head into the final six games, Derby County still has a chance to advance to the Championship. The Rams lead third-place Bolton Wanderers by four points, but if Ian Evatt’s team wins their remaining game, that difference could be as little as one point.
Paul Warne will need to utilise every weapon in his cabinet during a crucial time, and the injury to Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has just made it more imperative to employ Corey Blackett-Taylor.
Blackett-Taylor, who signed a £300,000 contract with Pride Park in January, has not had an easy time adjusting to life there. He has only been able to play in a few games due to a bothersome hamstring strain and the team’s poor performance.
But from his brief stint against Northampton, he showed enough to suggest that he can have an impact on this Derby team, and the time has come to deliver.
The figures demonstrating Corey Blackett-Taylor’s ability to justify his value to the Derby.
Mendez-Laing’s injury allows Blackett-Taylor to play in his favourite position on the left wing, and Warne is expected to go back to his tried-and-true 4-3-3 system.
With eight goals and seven assists for the Addicks this season, the Englishman, who thrived as a left-winger at Charlton, absolutely destroyed the league.
With his quickness, strength, and deft dribbling, Blackett-Taylor was a formidable player in South London who could cause havoc for rival defences.
The 26-year-old is a dribble-happy wide player who prefers to drive at his opponents and is skilled at handling the ball in confined spaces.
The jet-heeled winger leads League One in most dribbles completed per game (2.6), surpassing Peterborough’s lethal tandem of Ephron Mason-Clark and Kwame Poku, despite having played for the Rams very little since signing.
Using his data from Charlton, Blackett-Taylor is also fourth in the Derby team for major chance creation (6), with Mendez-Laing, Conor Hourihane, and Tom Barkhuizen being the only players to surpass him.
It’s time for Blackett-Taylor to shine.
Journalist Josh Bunting hailed Blackett-Taylor as “dangerous” when he first arrived in Derbyshire. At his best, he is one of the league’s greatest wingers.
Since he was given the opportunity to express himself freely, he tore apart the substandard side. Similar strategy must be employed by Warne at Derby, where he must send him off the left flank and encourage the left back to overlap, giving him the opening to cut inside.
There’s a reason the organisation invested a lot of money in him in January, and if given a longer leash in the team, he can show his management that the expenditure was worthwhile by excelling in the remaining six games.
On Good Friday, Blackett-Taylor might begin his career wearing a Derby shirt as there is a big matchup against Blackpool.
