RYAN Taylor knows what a goal can do for a footballer’s confidence, and he has already seen an improvement in Leon Best’s. Now he hopes the striker can transfer his training-ground form to the Premier League.

Best ended an 11-game barren run with the only goal as Newcastle United defeated Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.

Created by a brilliant piece of skill to beat Luke Young, it was hardly the finish of a player whose morale was on the floor. But Taylor detected signs in the remaining 53 minutes that it had lifted his spirits.

Demba Ba and Cheick Tioté have left for the African Cup of Nations, which starts on Saturday and runs until February 12. Ba is the club’s 15-goal top scorer, Tioté their chief ball-winner, but Newcastle have won both games so far without them.

“They’re two massive players in this football club, so it was always going to be difficult when they went away,” said Taylor. “Demba’s goal record just goes to show that but we’ve got lads who can hopefully fill in and Besty’s one of those who hasn’t been playing football regularly this season.

“I thought once he scored he looked a lot more confident, and what a cool finish that was.

“Maybe if he can go on a run of goals people will be talking about the competition we’ve got for places when Demba comes back from the African Cup of Nations.

“Besty scores on a regular basis in training, but things haven’t been going his way on the field recently. Hopefully now he can give us another option.”

Best’s Newcastle career took off last January when in the absence of Andy Carroll – initially through injury, then his £35m move to Liverpool – he scored a hat-trick against West Ham United. Almost 12 months after joining from Coventry City, they were Best’s first Magpies goals.

Although he plays further back, Taylor’s season has also been kick-started by a goal. The Merseysider built on scoring the winner at Sunderland in the campaign’s second game to establish himself in an unfamiliar position.

“My goal in the derby helped me through the first part of the season and the fans were right on my side,” he said. “As a player it’s massive – you can relax a bit more and enjoy your football. Besty will hopefully be the same.”

Having held off Davide Santon until December, Taylor has lost the left-back spot, and returned to his utility role. On Sunday he started as a right-sided midfielder, but moved inside after Yohan Cabaye’s ankle injury. It was just maybe a one-off because we lost Yohan early on,” Taylor said. “There were a couple of replacements on the bench but they didn’t have much experience so I think the manager preferred to use my experience and versatility.

“The game wasn’t about me trying to score goals or bomb forward, it was just about keeping our shape and keeping things tight.

“I played there (central midfield) through my youth but you become less familiar with the role. If the gaffer wants me to play in any position, I will. I enjoyed playing on the right of midfield against Manchester United, but providing you’re playing, you’re always happy. I’ve just got one of them ‘versatility’ tags.”

Sunday’s win moved Newcastle above Liverpool and level on points with Arsenal. Taylor enjoyed the result, if not the game.

“It wasn’t pretty, but you’re going to get them through the season,” he commented. “We knew they were going to have a go because they were always going to try and impress the new manager (Mark Hughes).

“It wasn’t a game that caught the eye and it wasn’t nice to play in. But it’s always a much better feeling to come off the field knowing you’ve won a game like that than lost it.”