McCarthy: Parr a Threat From Midfield Saturday, 14th Feb 2015 06:00 Town boss Mick McCarthy says he’s not ruling out using Jonny Parr in midfield from the start of games, the Norwegian full-back having impressed wide on the left in the second half of a couple of recent games. The 26-year-old scored his second goal of the season having come on as a sub in midfield in the 3-1 win at Millwall and again did well having switched from left-back when Tyrone Mings came on at half-time during Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday. “There are all those possibilities, of course,“ McCarthy said when quizzed on whether Parr might be used more regularly in midfield. “He scored what turned out to be the convincing winner at Millwall and he’s a threat going forwards, certainly. “We know that when he does it from full-back but he looks equally comfortable doing it from wide left, or wide right. “So, I’ve got 18 players to play the rest of the games, unless we get anybody else in on loan, and it’s important that they can adapt and play other positions. “It’s important that I know I can actually change players and know that I’m going to get the same out of everybody coming in as I have from the ones who have been in the team.” Speaking earlier in the season, Parr revealed that he actually started as a forward before a spell playing at wide midfield before finally settling at his now primary position of left-back. He added: “I was a striker when I was young, until about 18 or 19, and I got my first professional contract as a striker. Then I started to play on the wing in a 4-3-3 system and later 4-4-2 before I dropped back. “Getting forward has always been a big part of my game and I want to contribute offensively. We had some injuries and I had to play at full-back. I did well and I kind of just stayed there." McCarthy is also pleased to have the ability to make a significant number of changes of personnel to his team without weakening the side. On Tuesday he switched five players, which he says will have today’s opposition guessing at his team selection. “It might be good for us if Fulham are wondering what I’m going to do,” he added. “That might be productive for us because generally we know each other’s team. “I think they’ll probably know how I’ll play, although that’s not always a given. I’m loyal to players and I like players who know they’re going to be playing in the team because they’ve played well and think they’ve given the gaffer everything they’ve got. “But I explained my reasons why I changed it and it’s great that they all came in and they won and it creates competition for places.” He says the victory over the Owls was an important one and the task now is to build on it: “Before the game we were getting to the stage where we really needed a win. After the game we’ve won and now we really need to consolidate. “That’s never been different, whether that’s now or the start of the season, the middle of the season. “The only difference is that they’ll be running out of games shortly, so we’re coming to the thin end of the wedge. “We need the points, we don’t want to drop out of the top six at this stage, that’s for sure. We still want to keep aiming at those top two places.”
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