DAN PARSLOW has admitted it was a “proud moment” to pull a York City shirt back on again.

The 31-year-old defender might have swapped a battle to stay in the Football League with Cheltenham for a scrap to survive in non-League football’s highest echelon.

But he regards the switch as completing “unfinished business” at Bootham Crescent, as he resumes a Minstermen career that saw him make 316 appearances during his last nine-year stint at the club.

After suffering cruciate ligament damage, Parslow did not feature for the final 18 months of that spell, and was released in 2015 following a loan spell at Grimsby.

Even so, he remains 18th on the club’s all-time appearances list, just behind former City team-mates Michael Ingham (329) and David McGurk (333) and, while admitting that climbing higher on that chart is an aspiration, he knows the only way of achieving that goal is by helping bring back success to the club.

Having returned on loan initially, with the view to signing a permanent deal in the summer, Parslow said: “I found myself in a position where I wasn’t playing games at Cheltenham and, as soon as the gaffer made the first approach, while there were then a few whispers that I could go elsewhere, it was an easy decision for me.

“This is somewhere I wanted to come and play. I didn’t want to leave a few years back, but that was out of my hands and I had to go away, work hard and prove myself again.

“I feel like I have done that, because I played every minute of our title-winning campaign at Cheltenham and I thank them for that opportunity they gave me, but I’m delighted to be back.

"I did wonder whether I’d get the chance again, but you never say never and it was a proud moment to put the shirt back on - I really enjoyed it.

“It's always felt like I had some unfinished business at the club, because I believe I had plenty of football left in me when I was released, but that’s football.

"I played a lot of football during my last spell with the club and I’ve racked up appearance number one now in this second spell, so I’m hoping there will be many more to follow.

“I also love the city and my wife is from York but, forgetting all that, it’s about believing that I can still add value to the team and contribute to its success, which will hopefully be seen in the remaining fixtures.

"York City is a club that has got ambition and it’s not about individuals racking up appearances. It’s about ensuring that you can continue to do your job and perform and I fully believe I’m playing the best football of my career.

“The club should be challenging at the right end of the table but, obviously, short-term, we’ve got to ensure survival and then hopefully next season we can kick on.”

Having been a member of City’s double-Wembley winning squad of 2012 under current boss Gary Mills, Parslow also feels positive results in the FA Trophy can complement, rather than hinder, the bottom-of-the-table club’s quest for league points.

The Minstermen secured promotion back to the Football League four and a half years ago by beating Luton in the play-off final, having already knocked the Hatters out of the last four of the Trophy on the way to winning that competition.

Parslow’s second debut for the club came in Saturday’s 2-1 Trophy triumph at Harlow and he reasoned: “We know we need to start picking up league results quickly, but winning every Trophy game won’t hurt at all.

“Winning becomes a habit and, if we can win these games and build momentum and confidence, it can only be a good thing to take into the league.”

Along with the happy days, meanwhile, Parslow was also among the City side that only preserved their Conference status at Weymouth in the penultimate fixture of the 2008/09 season and he will now be drawing on the memories of that period as the team look to pull clear of the relegation zone this term.

“That was a right scrap and a tough, tough season,” he recalled. “I’ve had some tough times at York as well and been at both ends of the table but, while it’s not nice to be where we are now, if I can call on past experience and help in that way, then all the better.”