Tottenham Hotspur loanee welcomes the pressure at Preston North End after vital penalty and has his eyes on Hull City

The Tottenham Hotspur loanee netted with an emphatic finish from the penalty spot to grab a point at Deepdale on Wednesday in his first start since mid-September.

Parrott suffered a hamstring injury in the process of scoring his last goal for North End, against Norwich City in October, and has spent the last four months sidelined.

He’s had a long road to recovery and made three substitute appearances in recent weeks, and when PNE were awarded a penalty last time out, there was only one man stepping up to take responsibility. That is, despite some attempts from Tom Cannon – the designated penalty taker on the night – to get the ball himself.

“When I saw that the ref had given the handball, no one was getting the ball off me,” Parrott said. “I wanted to take it, put the pressure on myself and score. It was in the net before I even looked up.

“He [Cannon] wanted the pen, which I understand because he’s a striker as well. I’m sure if some of the other boys were on the pitch they’d have wanted it as well. I wanted the pressure, I wanted to take it and I wanted to score, and that’s what I did.

“He understands fully. Once it goes in it’s all good, if it doesn't then it’s a different story but it did so everyone is happy.

“It’s been a long, long five months since I started a game so to be back out there at Deepdale and getting my first goal here is nice.

“It feels like it’s a new loan. I want to come back and score goals, do well and help the team for the rest of the season and tonight is the start of it.”

The Irishman struggled to find goalscoring form at the start of the season, netting once in his first 14 games in all competitions.

With his injury now behind him and PNE looking for a regular goalscorer, he is confident that he can step up to the plate for Ryan Lowe and his teammates.

He said: “I thought at the start of the season that I was playing well, just in the final third it wasn’t happening. Tonight will only give me confidence and I want to score more.

“I don’t think confidence was an issue for me. I was still taking shots and still getting into the areas. I’d be more worried if I wasn’t getting any chances, but I was and even against Luton I had another one that I should have done better with.

“Coming back and playing ninety minutes and scoring when we needed it is big for me. I was buzzing to get that goal.”

With a trip to Hull City on the horizon this weekend, Parrott is backing himself and his teammates to continue turning around the bad form that has seen PNE win just three of their last nine league games.

He said: “We need the fans to stick behind us. It shows us when the goal goes in how happy they all are and we’re going to need them for the rest of the season.

“We needed something to get us going here at Deepdale. We haven’t been good enough and the results show that. We need to turn it around now and start picking up results.

“There’s loads of games left. We all agree that we need to be better and keep that away form as well and finish the season strong.”