Aberdeen defender Ash Taylor hopes the combination of Simon Church’s desire and Barry Robson’s experience will prove pivotal in the Dons’ title push.
Church has played a key role in the recent winning run, scoring the winning goals against Dundee United and Partick – taking his tally to four in seven matches since his loan move from MK Dons – and proving a capable replacement for the injured Adam Rooney.
Church is hoping to impress Wales manager Chris Coleman and secure his place on the plane for the European championship finals in France this summer.
He already has one admirer in Taylor and the defender is relieved he missed facing the on-loan attacker when he played in England with Tranmere Rovers.
Taylor said: “Simon and Adam are like for like players, they know where the goal is.
“Simon has been brilliant for us since he came in, he’s a good lad as well.
“I didn’t play against him down the road in England, but going off of playing against him in training it’s a good job.”
Veteran midfielder Robson has been equally pivotal in Aberdeen’s last three victories, starting two of the games and coming off the bench to inspire a comeback at Partick Thistle in the other.
Robson has been there and done it in Scottish football, winning league championships with Celtic.
And Taylor believes the Inverurie-born midfielder’s knowledge can only help the Dons in the remaining eight games.
He said: “It shows the strength of squad we’ve got when we can bring in the likes of Barry Robson, who came in for his first start at United and didn’t look out of place at all.
“He has only gone from strength to strength since then. Where he’s been and what he’s done in his career can be a big help for us.
“At this stage of the season it’s always important to have strength in depth because injuries can happen, so it’s important there are players there waiting to come in and take their chance to do well for the team.”
Taylor knows the Dons remain underdogs in their pursuit of Celtic but he believes his side is well placed for the title run-in.
He said: “Everyone knows about the budget Celtic have, they can spend millions of pounds on players.
“But we believe in the strength of the players we have in our squad.
“We have a good enough and strong enough squad to carry on what we are doing.”
