MICHAEL Taylor is a man on a mission.

Having risen from being little more than a bit-part player when he first arrived at Worcester City in the summer of 2011, he has now established himself as a genuine go-to striker.

However, not content with keeping Mike Symons and Danny Glover on their toes, he wants to become the first name on manager Carl Heeley’s team sheet.

That’s certainly ambitious, given that Symons and Glover scored more than 40 goals between them for City and Nuneaton respectively last season, but Taylor is determined to try.

He has started the last two games alongside the forward duo in a 4-3-3 formation and has scored in each of them — in the 2-1 victory over Droylsden and 4-0 FA Cup triumph at Gornal Athletic.

Given that he also netted as a substitute in the 5-1 crushing of Corby in the league last month, he is already well on the way to bettering the five goals he managed last season.

Asked if he was pleased with the progress he is making in a City shirt, Taylor said: “Yes, but I’m not stopping there. I want to carry on, I want that number one spot.

“I will just keep working hard and learn from Symmo and Danny until I get up there. I have to be patient but I feel I have been and they have given me a lot of confidence as well.

“Carl and Matt Gardiner have also kept me positive.”

Worcester offered Taylor the opportunity to step up from Earlswood Town, a level lower than Gornal’s Midland Alliance status, a shade over 12 months ago and he grasped it with both hands.

The striker is still not the finished article — a bit more composure might have brought him more goals last Saturday — but he is on an upward curve of improvement.

One thing the striker cannot be accused of lacking, however, is confidence, underlined by his fine first-time finish against Gornal to break the deadlock just before half-time.

City are also playing to his strengths having adopted the same 4-3-3 set-up for the last two games that he was familiar with at his former club.

It is a system that could be deployed against Harrogate Town this Saturday when Worcester resume their bid to be among the early Blue Square Bet North play-off contenders, something Taylor feels is within their capability.

He added: “I want to go all the way to promotion, I don’t see why we can’t. We’ve got the squad.”