Newcastle Jets striker Adam Taggart says he has been happy to bide his time on the sidelines before hopefully making an impact in the run to the A-League finals.
Newcastle Jets striker Adam Taggart says he has been happy to bide his time on the sidelines before hopefully making an impact in the run to the Hyundai A-League finals.
Taggart, who signed on at the Jets from Perth Glory in the off-season, was seen as one of coach Gary van Egmond’s key players in their possession-driven attacking line-up for this campaign.
But the arrival of marquee player Emile Heskey has restricted the 19-year-old to a handful of appearances this season.
The situation was made more complex when Socceroos coach Holger Osiek selected Taggart for national duties at the East Asian Cup qualifying tournament in Hong Kong last December.
Taggart was in the curious position of scoring goals for the green and gold before he had netted one in the A-League for the Jets.
However, Newcastle’s struggle to score in recent weeks forced van Egmond into a line-up change, with Taggart and veteran Michael Bridges joining Heskey and Ryan Griffiths in an attacking line-up for last weekend’s 2-0 win over the Heart.
The success of the combination has seen van Egmond assure fans that he will go with the same line-up this Friday night when the Jets host top six rivals the Brisbane Roar.
“I don’t think I can complain,” Taggart said of his extended stint on the sidelines this season.
“I have been away a lot (with representative duties) and I didn’t expect I would come back and be straight into the side or anything like that.
“It is just one of those things that if you don’t get selected you just have to work harder and when your opportunity comes you have to take it with both hands and do the business on the pitch.”
Taggart, who along with Heskey and Zenon Caravella look set to overcome niggling injuries before this weekend’s clash, has done everything he possibly could to push for a berth in the run-on squad.
He has been in sparkling form for the National Youth League bagging a hat-trick and a brace in recent games against the Melbourne Heart and Sydney FC respectively.
“I think it is about trying to get some consistency to try to force your way into the squad,” said Taggart.
“You can’t just have one or two good weeks you have to keep pushing each week so it leaves Gary with and the coaching staff hard decisions to make for the weekend.
“That is what they want and the whole club wants.”
