Corey Blackett-Taylor has been speaking of his delight at being on the first team bench for Aston Villa’s last two games against Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town.
The 19 year old winger was introduced to first team affairs back in the days of Tim Sherwood, training regularly with the squad and being in the match day 18 for the League Cup tie at Villa Park against Notts County back in August 2015, but the Huddersfield match the other week saw him debut under Steve Bruce as a late substitute in the game and our current injury situation saw him on the bench once more for the victory over Sheffield Wednesday.
Speaking to the Official Site to discuss his most recent involvement with the seniors and to reflect on his debut, the youngster explained.
‘On the Monday I came prepared to travel to the U23 game against Wolves at Molineux. I was just sitting down in the changing room and Kevin MacDonald told me to go and see Ian Paul, the kitman, to talk about my shirt and squad number. I looked on the sheet and it had my name and the number 35. I was asked if I wanted ‘Taylor` or ‘Blackett-Taylor` on my shirt and was told to get ready to travel to Huddersfield the next day as I wouldn`t be playing at Wolves.’
Blackett-Taylor went on to say.
‘On the day, I trained with the first team and had a feeling I would be in the squad the next day. It was an amazing feeling, I couldn`t describe it. I was thinking ‘Woah!` Everything happened so fast. But I was ready. It was a good feeling. I thought I would be more nervous than I was on the day. Before the game in the hotel I was nervous but once I got to the stadium I saw how everything was and I chilled out. When I got the call I was more excited than nervous. I was ready.’
With a few words of encouragement from the team, he went on to add.
‘I got a few words of encouragement from Micah Richards and Tommy Elphick who told me ‘Just do what you do in training and try and create an impact` and the gaffer told me to just go out there and enjoy it. That gave me more confidence. Coming on was a good feeling. It was something I`d always dreamt of doing and I`d managed to do it. We`ve had a lot of injuries and I was lucky enough to get selected. I`ve stayed patient, worked very hard and I`m just glad I was able to do it. I was so excited. I want more of it and am determined to keep working hard.’
With the injuries we have at the minute and Bruce turning to our youngsters, Keinan Davis and Callum O’Hare also getting game time recently or at least being on the bench, a few youngsters will be hoping to get more first team match minutes under their belt before this campaign comes to an end.
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