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Back in late March, we dived into the mammoth undertaking of ranking the 72 best players in 'The 72' this season - and we're now deep into our 'Top 10'! With only six footballers remaining, it's time to turn our attention to the most lethal left foot in the EFL.
Before we introduce our latest top performer, we'd like to quickly point out that 'Playmaker's 72' is not necessarily aimed at ID'ing the best footballers across the EFL - instead, it focuses on those who have enjoyed the best campaigns across the Championship, League One and League Two this season.
At Number Six we have Newport County hotshot Dom Telford.
By his own admission, the 2021/22 campaign was a 'sink or swim' season for Dominic Telford.
After his January 2021 move from Plymouth to Newport County, the goals hadn't flowed and the Burnley-born striker found himself on the Exiles' transfer list last summer.
With everything to prove, Telford buckled down and has been rewarded with a spectacular season that sees him top of the League Two goal charts and in pole position for the L2 Golden Boot.
Speaking exclusively to Playmaker back in January, Telford referenced this career crossroads.
"It didn't happen straightaway under the old manager at Newport (Michael Flynn) and I found myself on the transfer list in the summer.
"It was sink or swim really. I came in every day smiling and tried to turn things around by working hard. My form (since) has just clicked."
It certainly has: Telford scoring 25 League Two goals in 2021/22, finding the net on average every 116 minutes.
Although he's consistently found the back of the onion bag, it's fair to say Telford enjoyed the most productive of purple patches prior to the turn of the year. Between late October and early December, the forward was simply on fire and hit an amazing 12 goals in an eight-game scoring spree that included braces against Carlisle and Bristol Rovers, and his first-ever senior hat-trick in a thumping 5-0 win over Stevenage.
As Telford readily admits, the arrival of new manager James Rowberry in October coincided with his season sparking into life.
“At the start of the season, I was completely out of favour, so 20 goals wasn't my benchmark or my target.
“The big thing was having the new manager (Rowberry) come in. He backed me, he believed in me and he trusted me. Then it was just up to me to make sure that I put the work in and score the goals,” stated Telford in an interview with the EFL at the start of this month.
Righty-ho, let's launch into a quick stat summary to fully appreciate Telford's league-leading numbers.
As mentioned at the outset, Telford is in possession of the most lethal left foot outside of the Premier League this season. In total 17 of his 25 League Two strikes this season have come courtesy of his deadly left boot, with only Mo Salah (18G) able to boast more left-footed league goals than Newport's prolific goalgetter.
It's also remarkable that 18 (72%) of Telford's goals have come from open-play - more than any other player in the fourth tier - and his predatory goalscoring instincts are underscored by the fact that no L2 player has snaffled more goals from inside the six-yard box this term.
Three assists and 39 key passes during the campaign also highlight the fact that Telford has also been able to turn provider, despite what he has himself termed a goal "obsession".
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— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) January 8, 2022
💥 Headline interview with @DomTelford9
🍔 Feature with @FootyScran
🎙 @SchiavelloVOICE & the art of football commentary
➕ shedloads more!
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With the Exiles missing out on the League Two play-offs, there is likely to be plenty of transfer talk regarding Telford this summer and his future will again be up in the air.
However, after being named in League Two's Team of the Season on the back of a sensational 2021/22, it will now be for all the right reasons - and Telford is convinced there are plenty more goals to come from him.
"I've had a couple of tough seasons where I've not hit the ground running, but the hunger has always been there," he stated in his interview with Playmaker in January.
"I back my ability. If I play games of football, I'm going to score goals."
Check out the articles for all of those featured so far...
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NameDominic David Telford Born/Age1996-12-05(27 -yrs-old) Nationality England PositionForward (Striker) | |
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