Elkan Baggott has been a stand out performer for Bristol Rovers in recent matches, having endured a difficult start to life on loan from Ipswich Town
Matt Taylor has praised center-back Elkan Baggott as “outstanding” for his play while on loan from Ipswich Town at Bristol Rovers.
Baggott produced his third straight outstanding performance despite a 2-0 loss to Peterborough United on Saturday, showing a remarkable comeback from the calf injury sustained in March.
According to the defender himself, he had a difficult beginning to his time at the Gas, being replaced after just 25 minutes during Rovers’ thrilling victory over Stevenage in February, but he has had an amazing recovery.
After Peterborough, Taylor stated, “He’s been a credit to himself and to his parent club in the time he’s been with us.” “The way he has performed on top of everything else, including the way he has trained, carried himself, and played.
“This is an excellent illustration of a loan player who played no meaningful or competitive football during the first half of the season; he clearly left for an Indonesian tournament, which is very different from Stevenage and the demands of League One.”
“Being a young player, he will have required those first six or seven games, which were extremely difficult considering his position in terms of playing time, to be honest. He needed that.”
The towering defender, who scored against Cheltenham Town earlier this month, was limited to just one appearance while on loan at the club last season. The 21-year-old Indonesian also struggled to get minutes at Ipswich in the first half of the season, playing only in cup competitions.
Unfortunately, since January, Baggott and fellow young defender Connor Taylor have had little time together as a partnership because of injuries, which the Rovers manager finds disappointing.
“We’ve seen that center-half partnership at Fleetwood a few times, and it’s unfortunate that Connor went off so early,” Taylor continued. “You can almost go man for man all over the pitch when you’ve got center-halves like that behind you.”
“I think he’s one of the guys who can physically handle it, but we can also see his quality, pedigree, and signs of him just getting stronger and stronger as we got more time to work with him, simplifying his game.”
With just one game left in the current campaign, Taylor is preparing for the upcoming one by expecting a large player turnover. Twelve players have permanent contracts with the club, but Baggott is one of six who are currently on loan. These contracts are set to expire at the end of the upcoming season.
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