Taylor Gardner-Hickman reveals his Birmingham City wish and what Steve Evans told him
There will be no let up from Taylor Gardner-Hickman in his pursuit of a permanent transfer to Birmingham City.
Gardner-Hickman has excelled on loan at Blues from Championship side Bristol City and the club have the option to make the transfer permanent. The 23-year-old isn’t taking it for granted, despite his performances making the deal difficult to refuse for Chris Davies and Blues’ hierarchy.
“It sounds really cliché but I’ve got to take it week by week, game by game, and keep being consistent and doing my all for the team,” Gardner-Hickman told BirminghamLive. “I really hope that I’ve done enough to prove myself to the club and hopefully they’ll want me.”
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Gardner-Hickman has shown his qualities in almost every outfield position. Back in his preferred midfield role against Rotherham on Saturday, Gardner-Hickman delivered a man of the match performance to earn praise from Davies.
“I’m prepared to do a job wherever I’m needed and ultimately I give my all for the team in whatever position I play,” Gardner-Hickman said. “It’s been a good run and I’ve got to stay consistent now.”
The most notable contribution Gardner-Hickman made in Blues’ comeback victory over the Millers was to win the match-winning penalty, scored by striker Jay Stansfield.
He added: “I saw the space open up and rather than drive to the outside, like I did a couple of times in the first half, I thought I’ll try and go through the middle. I know how good a player Marc Leonard is and I really enjoy playing alongside him, so it was just a case of hoping he would find me with the one-two and fortunately he did. It’s one of those cases where if the opposition player dangles a leg you can get your foot in first and hopefully the referee sees it and he did.”
There was a fracas involving Gardner-Hickman, Davies and Millers boss Steve Evans after the final whistle. Evans took umbrage with Gardner-Hickman – but the Blues man reminded him that he is no stranger to the dark arts.
Gardner-Hickman explained: “He wasn’t happy with me crawling back on the pitch! It’s something that we’re all going to do as players in that position and he admitted that in the end himself, that he would have done the same.”
