Taylor hopeful of replicating Luton's Wembley glory with Lincoln

Despite playing in his first full season in professional football, Joe Taylor has shown no signs of any debut nerves.

The Luton loanee scored six goals throughout March, all coming within a week. The month included a first professional hat-trick, while also helping Lincoln to three successive wins where they scored five goals in each.

“It’s a massive achievement for myself,” says Taylor. “I hit a fine run of form in terms of goal scoring last month and it was really successful not just myself but for the team too.

“I think we built up a relentless nature within the team. If we go and get an early goal, then the game is there for us to go and get a few more. The manager has really installed this nature into the group at the moment.”

Despite being only 21, Taylor took no time adapting to the environment of League One. A loan spell at League Two Colchester in the first half of the season was Taylor’s first taste of regular first-team football, and he says his time with the U’s prepared him for the next step.

“Colchester really opened my eyes to what professional football was like,” he adds. “I never had a long run of games before and it did me the world of good. It got me scoring goals, increased my confidence and I knew making that step up was possible, I just had to show it.”

Lincoln have been on a spectacular run of form recently, but a 16-game unbeaten run came to an end at the hands of a late Wigan winner on Saturday. But a win against Oxford in midweek has kept their play-off hopes alive.

“We’ve done brilliantly to even get into the position that we’re in,” he says. “We were 16 games unbeaten and since the new year, we have been brilliant. We need to continue to use that momentum to help us get into that last play-off spot.”

Taylor is familiar with the play-offs having been involved in Luton’s Championship play-off final victory last season, playing the final 15 minutes of extra-time. He thought he had scored a late winner, only for it to be ruled out by VAR, and netted in the shoot-out to help take the club to the Premier League.

For him, there are many similarities between Luton and Lincoln.

“Playing at Wembley is what dreams are made of, it was probably the best day of my life,” says Taylor. “I haven’t had many better days in football and out of it. I was at Luton from January until the end of that season and I can see so many similarities between that Luton team and the group we have here at Lincoln.

“We all started clicking, and had a great vibe alongside that relentless nature while also seeing games out. It feels the same here and hopefully we can go on and achieve the same thing.”

With Lincoln’s play-off hopes in the balance, Taylor will be hoping he can see the Wembley arch again for a second time in as many seasons.