MATTY Taylor could be the next Jamie Vardy, according to his former manager, Mark Gee, writes Matthew Bruce.

The 25-year-old Kidlington-born striker is the second-highest goalscorer in Sky Bet League Two, taking his tally for the season to 13 with a goal in Bristol Rovers’ 2-1 win over York City on Saturday.

And Gee, who helped Taylor on his way with a two-year stint at North Leigh from 2009 to 2011 before helping him secure a move to Forest Green Rovers, said he always believed he would play at a higher level.

“He’s a natural finisher and he’s got a lot of good attributes,” said Gee.

“We were actually recommending him to teams much higher than Forest Green when he was here, because we felt he was capable of playing at a higher level.”

Like Vardy, who is the Premier League’s top scorer after starting his career with Stocksbridge Park Steels, Taylor has had to work his way up from the bottom.

And Gee feels he is capable of charting a similar fairy- tale rise to the top.

“I think he’s certainly got another move upwards in him,” he said.

“You look at Jamie Vardy now and where he’s come from and people asked the exact same questions of him when he was at Fleetwood.

“I think if a striker can finish and he’s surrounded by better players, he’s capable of making the step up.

“It’s really just down to whether he can handle the pressure higher up.”

And Gee believes there are other players in Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 South & West who are capable of making the step up.

He added: “There are a lot of ex-Academy players in the Southern League, so there’s a lot of technical ability in the division.

“A lot of those players are still young and they were probably released for the wrong reasons.

“Playing at this level gives them a chance to bulk up and get a bit stronger.

“They’re certainly good enough, they’re just waiting for their chance at a higher level.”