Wigan manager Steve Bruce has claimed youngster Ryan Taylor can bend it exactly like David Beckham.Taylor has suffered an injury nightmare since joining the Latics from Tranmere in 2005, breaking his leg on two separate occasions.

The Liverpool-born star, signed by former boss Paul Jewell as a full-back, has been restricted to just 19 Premier League starts for Wigan, failing to make the progression expected when a host of clubs were chasing his services two years ago.

Finally, Taylor is getting onto the pitch on a regular basis, much to the relief of

Bruce, who was jumping for joy on Boxing Day when the former England Under-21 star curled home a superb winner against Newcastle.

While Bruce has only been at the JJB Stadium for a month, he has already seen enough to pay the 23-year-old one of the biggest compliments possible.

"Ryan's delivery of a ball is absolutely unbelievable," he said.

"It is as good as anyone I have ever seen, ever worked with or ever been associated with - and that includes a certain gentleman who now plays in America.

"I know it is a big statement but his set-piece delivery is as good as David Beckham's."

While Bruce accepts there are vastly differing aspects to other parts of their respective games, the similarities between Taylor and Beckham also extend to the unseen hours on the training ground spent perfecting the art.

Beckham was notorious for the amount of practice he put in at Manchester United, learning from one of Bruce's old team-mates, Eric Cantona.

And on Christmas Day, when the rain was lashing down and most families were about to carve up the turkey, there was Taylor going through his routine again and again.

"There is a technique involved in taking free-kicks but you have to practice and replicate it and replicate it," said Bruce.

"For two or three days he was out on the training ground, when it was raining and horrible, and against Newcastle he proved he can do it on the big stage."

Bruce has no hesitation in naming Taylor as one of the catalysts for Wigan's recent revival.

"Ryan is a manager's dream," he said. "We just want to get him playing and enjoying himself because he has had such a bad time with injuries.

"But I do think he has been the catalyst for what we have done over the last three or four games.

"He has come from nowhere and I am delighted about that."

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