CRAIG Short believes Rovers will soon be building their team around central defender Martin Taylor.

Taylor has been battling to regain his place in the starting line-up since Rovers' 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa earlier this month.

But Short urged the 23-year-old not to get despondent about his recent lack of first team action.

"Martin's come on leaps and bounds this year," Short said.

"He is quick, strong, good in the air and comfortable on the ball, which is a tremendous attribute for a centre half because not many are.

"He had been a regular up until the Villa game. He's had an outstanding season and alongside Brad Friedel and Lucas Neill he's been one of the most consistent. You always seem to have older players in the centre half position so he did really well to hold down his place.

"And he was excellent in the big games, particularly the way he handled Ruud Van Nistelrooy in the games against Manchester United.

"But I don't think being left out of the starting line-up will get to him. He is pretty laid back."

He added: "Martin's got everything you want from a central defender and he's going to be around for a long time.

"Defenders don't tend to peak until they're approaching 30 so he's got time on his side. And I think the team's going to be built around him in the next four or five years."

And Short reckons Taylor will benefit from working with a more experienced back line, following the signing of left back Vratislav Gresko, who has also impressed the 34-year-old centre half.

"The manager hadn't seen Gresko play but he was with Inter Milan for two years and people gave him good reports.

"Gresko's tremendously fit and does a lot of extra training. The only problem is the language but he's picking bits of English up all the time.

"It must be very hard because it's a new club, a new type of football for him and a new language.

"But Ciccio Grabbi and Hakan Sukur speak Italian to him and they act as his interpreters.

"He's settled in really well and I was really impressed with the way he played on Saturday.

"That was proved when Jesper Gronkjaer was taken off at half-time. He's a good player but Gresko marked him really well, didn't give him any time on the ball so he wasn't effective."

He added: "It's certainly helped us to have more experience in the team, and that's taking nothing away from Tiny of even Jay McEveley, who did a marvellous job when he stepped in, more so because he was out of position because he's really a centre back.

"All season people have said we're a good side going forward but have always been a bit suspect at the back. But I thought that was a bit unfair, especially considering we've got one of the best away records defensively, and that's only going to get better with experience."