JASON Tindall admitted he was "really pleased" to see Lyle Taylor succeeding in the Championship, having played his part in giving the striker a first big break in professional football.

Taylor was released as a teenager from Millwall in 2009 and dropped into non-league, proving prolific for Ryman League outfit Concord Rangers, scoring over 30 goals in his first season.

After a successful trial, he was quickly snapped up by Eddie Howe's Cherries in 2010 and went on to play 34 times for the club.

However, after only netting twice, both of which came in a 5-0 Carling Cup win over Dagenham & Redbridge, Taylor was let go in 2012.

Taylor, now 30, has featured for seven clubs since, including AFC Wimbledon and Falkirk, before making it up into the second tier, first with Charlton Athletic and now with Nottingham Forest, who face Cherries tomorrow.

The striker, who has featured for Montserrat at international level, has made an instant impression with four goals already for his new club.

Asked how Taylor ended up at Cherries, Tindall told the Daily Echo: "It was a good friend of mine that phoned me at the time and said about a boy at non-league.

"He was at Concord Rangers at the time and we thought about getting him in. We got him in and straightaway you could see Lyle was better than the level he was playing at.

"He was very good technically, he was hungry to score goals and you could see that he had something and potentially would go on and do good things.

"For whatever reason he had a different journey after his time at Bournemouth, he went to two or three other clubs but you can’t question what Lyle has done in the last two or three seasons.

"He’s been a prolific goalscorer, he’s done extremely well wherever he’s been and I’m really pleased to see him go on and have the career he’s had. He’s settled in really well so quickly at Nottingham Forest."

Tindall added: "He’s had to work hard. As we know, things don’t get given to you.

"Sometimes you get knocked down and you have to get back up and fight and Lyle’s certainly showed that with his character and the journey that he’s had.

"Full credit to him for doing that. He’s gone on and had a really good career, he’s scored a lot of goals in the last few seasons and he’s hit the ground running at Nottingham Forest.

"I’m sure they’re really pleased with the signing and the level of performance he’s delivered for them."