Sinc In
AARON Taylor-Sinclair has seized up on the opportunity given to him by the injuries and suspensions that have plagued Argyle’s season.
Injury to Oscar Threlkeld coupled with Gary Miller’s three-match suspension left a vacancy in the Pilgrims’ defence at right-back, which manager Derek Adams opted to plug by moving left-back Gary Sawyer to the right side, brining Aaron in on the left.
In three unbeaten games, much has been made of Graham Carey’s sensational return to top form, the defensive strength of Yann Songo’o, and the impact made by Toumani Diagouraga since his arrival. All the above points are more than valid, but Aaron quietly going about his business is a factor to be considered, too.
Quiet, that is, until you consider a last-ditch, stoppage-time block on the line at Blackburn which earned Argyle a valuable point.
“The ball had just been cut back,” recalled Aaron, “and my instincts really were to just get back on the line and flick my leg out. The time from the ball hitting my leg and spinning over the bar seemed like an age. I was glad it went over and we defended the corner. It was a good point as it would have been a big blow if we lost that; we would have been devastated.”
Since starting the last three games ATS has helped the Pilgrims to remain unbeaten and pick up a valuable five points. He is enjoying his stint at Argyle and knew he had to bide his time before staking his claim.
“I knew it would take time for me to adjust to what the manager wants,” said Aaron. “That’s what he said to me when I came down. I haven’t played a lot of football in the last year, due to a lot of injury, so it was always going to take time to bed in."
“Momentum is a big thing in football; we were stuck in a rot. But now we’ve got two draws and a win, we feel like we can’t get beat. Hopefully on Saturday we can go out and put on a good performance.”
After his recent positive performances, he has managed to maintain his place in the starting XI even with players coming back from suspension and injury.
“There is a lot of competition for places when everyone is fit. Gaz Miller is back so he will be pushing to try and get a start again. But the back four plus Yann is doing a good job, so long may that continue.”