"Jury is still out" - Paul Warne told to take action on Derby County "enigma" ahead of January call | OneFootball

FLW's Derby County fan pundit has given his verdict on whether Corey Blackett-Taylor deserves a starting spot ahead of their clash with Millwall

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Derby County have made a solid start to life back in the Championship after two years down in League One.

The Rams earned a second place finish in the table last year, achieving automatic promotion at the second attempt under Paul Warne.

But one player that hasn’t quite been able to live up to expectation during this successful period has been Corey Blackett-Taylor.

The winger signed for the club on loan from Charlton Athletic in January before completing a permanent move in the summer.

The 27-year-old has started just five of his 16 league appearances in that time, contributing one goal and one assist (all stats from Fbref).

Corey Blackett-Taylor verdict

When asked about Blackett-Taylor’s position in the squad, FLW’s Derby fan pundit claimed that the forward should be given a run in the team over the next few weeks.

He believes his recent substitute performances have warranted a starting berth, especially due to Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s poor form.

“Corey Blackett-Taylor is a bit of an enigma, really,” Woodward told Football League World.

“The Corey Blackett-Taylor we thought we were signing, when we looked at his form for Charlton, he was unstoppable, unplayable at the time, just before we signed him.

“We haven’t really seen that Corey Blackett-Taylor.

“We’ve seen it in glimpses in one game last season away at Portsmouth, where he showed what he can do.

“But he hasn’t really had a run in the team.

“I think the best he’s looked in his time at Derby came in the last two games where he came off the bench.

“So, it’s time he got a start, and he just needs a couple of games to show us what he can do from the start.

“I think the jury is still out on him.

“We don’t really know what we’re getting from him, but the problem is Mendez-Laing isn’t performing to the level he was last season, so I think Corey Blackett-Taylor deserves a start.

“But he’s got to then then go out and prove he should be in the team above Mendez-Laing, who is our captain, so it’s a difficult one.

“For me, I do think we need to strengthen in those wide areas, I don’t think we’re going to get enough goals this season in the Championship from Mendez-Laing, from Blackett-Taylor, Jackson — I know he’s started the season okay.

“But we do need to add goals from the wide areas because we’re not really getting any from the front man at the moment because he’s quite isolated.

“But, I think give Corey Blackett-Taylor a run in the team, see what he’s made of.

“If he’s not impressed by Christmas, then January window we got out and look for new wingers, but I think he deserves to start.”

Derby County league position

Derby are 12th in the Championship after nine league games, four points outside the play-off places.

The Rams will be aiming to secure their position in the division beyond just one campaign, with the gap to the bottom three currently being five points.

Warne’s side went into the October international break off the back of a win over QPR, which ended a three-game losing run.

Up next for the Derbyshire outfit is a clash away to Millwall on 19 October.

Blackett-Taylor has earned a chance to start for Derby

Blackett-Taylor made an impact off the bench against Norwich, scoring in their 3-2 defeat in late September, causing their defence a lot of trouble.

He didn’t quite have the same impact in their next two games, where he also came off the bench, but he has generally performed well enough to give Warne a choice to make this weekend.

Given Mendez-Laing is out of form, there’s no harm in giving Blackett-Taylor a chance in the side to see what he can do from the start.

But if neither can perform by the start of January, then Derby should be weighing up a possible move in the January market to improve their wide options in order to stave off any threat of relegation.