Blues goalkeeper Maik Taylor has spoken of his delight at signing a new one year deal with the club.

The Northern Ireland international put pen to paper on his new contract on Friday and will remain at St. Andrew's until at least the summer of 2011.

He is now Blues' longest serving player having made the switch from Fulham back in 2003.

Whilst Taylor found his chances limited last season because of the form of on-loan England stopper Joe Hart, boss Alex McLeish sees the 38-year-old as a vital back-up to new signing Ben Foster during next season's 2010/11 campaign.

Taylor himself says he will do all he can to assist Foster, but at the same time has pledged to work as hard as he always has to put himself in the frame for a start when required.

"It's fantastic that the manager has shown faith in me," Taylor told bcfc.com.

"Hopefully I can repay that by helping Ben (Foster), but even better if I manage to get an opportunity myself.

"I'm still hungry to play football and be involved and I've committed myself to another year at a Premier League club.

"I'm very appreciative of where I am and what I've got and I will try and do my best and help the other keepers along and we'll see what happens.

"I'm going to knuckle down and train as hard as I always have and try and push Ben all the way and if I do, that's great for everyone."

Having seen Blues perform so magnificently last season, Taylor is rightly optimistic for the season ahead, but he knows that it will be a tough ask for Blues to replicate last season's high flying position.

"For any club of our size and stature who have only been back in the Premier League one season it's going to be another difficult season next year, but I think everybody appreciates that," he said.

"We had a fantastic season last year because the players and coaching staff put in an extreme amount of hard work to achieve what they did, but next season will probably be even tougher.

"Our first target will be to remain in the Premier League and at that stage we can look to move on.

"But I am confident there are exciting times ahead for the club.

"The two big money signings we've already made this summer show that the club is very ambitious as they look to build on last season and move forward, so it's good to be a part of that."