Gills boss praises striker Cody McDonald after a strong second half of the season
Peter Taylor has praised striker Cody McDonald for his recent performances.The forward has scored some vital goals this season, including two in the last couple of fixtures which has all but guaranteed the Gills position in Sky Bet League One next season.
His strike at Walsall, which earned the team a 1-1 draw, which followed up his goal against Tranmere, was his 16th of the season and Taylor is delighted to have seen the 27-year-old get on the score sheet so many times.
He said: “He knows where the goal is and when you need one there is a fair chance Cody will go and get it and that’s why he is important to us.
“You always need goal scorers at any level and he’s certainly done enough for the club this year and since I’ve been here I’ve near on played him in every game.
“He’s enjoyed that so it’s nice we’ve got the reward with the goals he has got.”
McDonald was joined by Craig Fagan up front from the start at Walsall, with Danny Kedwell not in the travelling party with Taylor leaving him out just as a precaution as he explained:
“Keds had a bit of swelling on his knee so I decided not to bring him because the Physio thought it was a bit of a risk," he said.
“I told him that the 20 minutes he put in on Friday was outstanding for us, he will be fine. He might have a chance for Preston, if not he will be fine for Shrewsbury.”
Peter finished up by praising the togetherness of the squad and is pleased with the way the players have bounced back from disappointing results.
He added: “The players have been outstanding and have worked extremely hard as a group. We know we are not the best team in the division but we grind our results and the boys have shown good discipline and have looked pretty organised just lately.
“We’ve shown at times that we are an inconsistent team but one thing we have always shown is the character to bounce back and that’s where the boys deserve a lot of credit.”