Peter Taylor pleased to hand on loan striker Jack Marriott his first appearance for the Gills in Brentford fixture
Peter Taylor said he was pleased to be able to hand Jack Marriott his debut for the club during Friday night’s 2-1 defeat at Brentford.
The striker, on loan from Ipswich, got 10 minutes under his belt after replacing Craig Fagan and very nearly opened his account for the Gills, only to be thwarted by David Button who saved his first shot before the forward had a second attempt blocked by the defence.
Peter said the youngster has certainly shown what he is capable of, and admitted he was expecting him to score when he had his first sight at goal.
He said: “Jack Marriott went on and he could have had a couple of goals so I think people will have seen the dangerous side of him.
"His first effort maybe he should have scored, he’s hit the target and it’s a good save by the goalkeeper.
“Just after that he had another chance which was blocked; he didn’t have long but he did very well.
“He’s not going to get one a long way out and beat 300 people, that’s not him.
“He’s always in that box making runs and getting on the shoulders of people and that’s exactly what he does so I was expecting a goal to be honest, but I’m pleased he has come on and had a little bit of an impact.
“I bet he’s pleased.”
Peter chose to make two changes for the game with Amine Linganzi and Craig Fagan coming in for Jake Hessenthaler and Bayo Akinfenwa, and the Manager explained why he made those choices.
He said: “He has played a couple of development games, he has looked fit and he beats people and that’s why I wanted him in the team.
“Jake has done absolutely magnificent but I was never going to rely on him in every game until the end of the season.
"He will be a good player for us there is no doubt about that but I felt Amine was a little bit fresher and the way he beats people at times could have caused Brentford some problems.
“My thinking on that [Akinfenwa], and I explained it to him, there are times when he can come off the bench and have 35 minutes and be fresh.
“The defenders are tired and sometimes you see his strength even more. Sometimes he starts the game and works so hard that then he gets a bit tried and you don’t see the best of him so that’s why at times we don’t start him.”
Read Peter’s immediate post match reaction here.