Forest He was targeted by Norwich City, but instead was bought by Paul Hart's Nottingham Forest for £500,000. At the beginning of the 2003–04 season, following his recovery from a serious eye injury sustained while still at Burnley, he became a regular in the side when David Johnson broke his leg. Forest's fortunes took a downturn largely caused by a mass exodus of players during the previous summer. Taylor played a big part in the recovery with some very important goals. His first goal for Forest came against his former club Burnley at Turf Moor, where Nottingham Forest won 3–0. He missed the end of the season with a knee injury that required surgery. In the unfortunate 2004–05 season which resulted in relegation, he was made captain by Gary Megson and was top scorer with eleven goals. For the second year running he underwent a knee operation at the end of the season. Shortly into the 2005–06 season, following a string of disappointing performances from the team, and with rumours that Megson had a deteriorating relationship with the players, he was stripped of the captaincy. With striker Grant Holt being signed to replace him, Taylor suddenly fell out of favour and was allowed to go on loan to Crewe Alexandra in January 2006, where he enjoyed some success but was unable to prevent them too suffering relegation. Taylor's contract at Nottingham Forest expired in the summer of 2006; the club decided against renewing it and he was released. Dario Gradi offered him a deal at Crewe, though as expected Taylor signed elsewhere. Tranmere Rovers At the end of June 2006, he joined Tranmere Rovers on a two-year contract, scoring nine goals in all competitions in his debut season. He broke his jaw at the start of the season, spending a month on the sidelines. Upon his recovery he said: "I'm enjoying my football now, it's a great club and I'm really loving life at Tranmere", also giving high praise to manager Ronnie Moore. Doncaster Rovers Taylor initially signed for Doncaster Rovers on loan on 31 January 2008, but the deal was made permanent on 6 February. He scored his first goal on 5 April, the first equaliser in a 2–2 draw against Huddersfield Town at the Galpharm Stadium. He helped the club to promotion from the play-offs, though was an unused substitute in the final. The 2008–09 season started poorly