TAYLOR’S BEEN TO HELL & BACK
Team-mates reveal Dragons star has been ‘deeply affected’ by his X-rated tackle on Coleman.. but he’s ready for Moldova
NEIL TAYLOR is ready to return for Wales tonight as team-mates admitted he was “deeply affected” by his X-rated tackle on Seamus Coleman.
Wales’ left wing-back Taylor was sent off in March after his reckless challenge on the Ireland skipper left the Everton star with a double leg fracture.
Crocked in the 0-0 draw in Dublin, Coleman had to undergo an operation, has not played since, and is not expected back until at least Christmas.
Taylor, who has 39 caps, was handed an automatic one-match ban for the red card in the World Cup qualifier and was hit by a further one-game suspension.
He was banned for Wales’ World Cup qualifying draw in Serbia, in June, and Saturday’s 1-0 home win against Austria.
But Aston Villa defender Taylor, 28, is available again for tonight’s game in Moldova, after the furore over the incident finally died down. And his international and club team-mate James Chester admits Taylor, who suffered a badly broken and dislocated ankle of his own in 2012, with Swansea, was hurt by accusations he deliberately tried to injure Coleman.
Chester said: “He was very disappointed with what happened and, playing with him at club level, I know he was deeply affected by it. It was something he didn’t mean to do.
“It’s nice to see that Seamus is close to fitness now. Neil has moved on with his career too and he seems back to normal.
“Professional to professional, he’d never wish that on anyone and was more worried about the impact on Seamus than what anyone was saying about him.
“Neil had obviously been through something similar, so anyone implying it was intentional would have been incorrect.
“He knew Seamus would have had to have been through the same thing as he did. I think that played a big part in what happened.”
Having served his ban, Taylor is expected to return to Wales’ usual five-man defence in place of Jazz Richards. He will also be in line to play against the Republic of Ireland on October 9, in Wales’ final crunch qualifier in Cardiff. But Chester hopes Irish anger over the incident will have disappeared by then. Centre-back Chester (left) added: “There’s no getting away from the the fact it wasn’t a great challenge. But the fact it was Wales against Ireland and Seamus playing in the Premier League, the focus on Neil was more than if the incident had happened against Austria or Moldova. “But Neil is the type of character not to be that bothered by what anyone says about him.”