It’s been an up and down journey for Dean Parrett at Boro ever since signing back in October 2013. A difficult first season at the club ended in despair as he was stretchered off with an ACL injury against MK Dons, Deano has now put the past behind him and the last five games have seen him put in his best run of form in a Boro shirt.
“It’s been really good. I was on the sideline for about six games and obviously it’s not nice watching from the bench but I’ve had to wait for my chance and do my best when I got back in. You have to keep performing to keep your shirt, the gaffer picks you on merit so you have to work hard in training and perform on a Saturday.
“The injury pegged me back a lot, I’ve had to work hard to get my strength and fitness built up and although I had a run of games earlier in the season, I wasn’t quite ready I don’t think. Now I’ve come back in I’m a lot fitter and a lot stronger and it’s starting to show I think.”
According to Deano, confidence is at an all-time high within the squad and it’s allowing the players to play harder, and smarter.
“The players are playing with a lot more confidence now. When we were on our indifferent run of form that wasn’t the case. When you’ve got confidence it gives you a lot more energy and myself, I’m feeling a lot better from the games as well as the training.
“You’re a lot more tentative when you’re low on confidence, I think now everyone’s making better decisions and although we’ve had a few good results, we can’t get carried away. We need to carry on doing what got us the results in the first place; hard work, winning your battles and taking chances when they come.”
His first goal of the season came against Cambridge; an eye-catching drive into the roof of the net from the edge of the area, but more goals is something he wants to add to his game.
“I definitely need to get more goals. It was a nice one (against Cambridge) but I had a couple of other chances in that game and it’d have been good to get a few more. I just need to make sure I’m getting shots off more often; I think I might need to set myself a goal of getting away three or four shots each game.”
Looking ahead to York on Saturday, Deano knows despite the Minstermen’s poor home form, all away games pose difficult challenges to overcome.
“It’s going to be a tough game away from home, as they always are. You have to play the crowd, the players, and the referee – playing all the different aspects of the game and taking your chances when you get them.”