THE form of Daniel Parslow could mean York City’s defensive lynchpin David McGurk has to bide his time for a recall.

McGurk was back in the squad for Saturday’s 0-0 Blue Square Bet Premier draw at Barrow after missing the last two matches with a foot injury.

But the 28-year-old centre-back had to be content with a place on the bench as Parslow starred again alongside captain Chris Smith for a third successive game.

City boss Gary Mills reiterated how much he rates McGurk on the eve of the match after agreeing terms on a new contract to keep last season’s Press Player of the Year at Bootham Crescent until 2013.

But Parslow, who had played most of the season at right-back prior to losing his place to Liam Darville, is putting forward a strong case not to be dropped again.

After seeing his side take a point at Holker Street, Mills said: “Dave McGurk is fit again, but I decided to go with Dan Parslow who I think has been outstanding during the last three games.

“It would be difficult to leave him out and he was possibly our best player again to be honest.”

With Kidderminster drawing at Luton on Saturday, if the Minstermen capitalise on their two games in hand they can still draw level on points with the Midlanders, who currently occupy the final play-off spot.

City will now play eight of their final 12 fixtures at home and, with his team having racked up six successive Blue Square Bet Premier wins at Bootham Crescent, Mills regarded the point in Cumbria as one gained rather than two lost.

He said: “I’m delighted with another good point. Barrow are a good side at home and make life difficult for teams.

“To get another clean sheet and a point away from home was fantastic for us. That’s another one of our away games gone and another point taken.

“We’ve got eight out of 12 at home now and we are looking to capitalise. We know what point ratio we need and, if we keep taking a point from our away matches, then our home form will have a massive say in things.”

Mills admitted, though, his team might have handled the elements better during a scrappy match and his decision to opt for a 4-4-2 formation from the start did not work as well as in Tuesday’s 2-1 home win over Gateshead.

The City chief added: “I thought we started very well the other night and I wanted us to start like that again, but it wasn’t easy with the wind and a bobbly pitch. They were getting to the ball first and closing us down quickly early on.

“We could have perhaps been a bit cuter because we hit too many straight balls and we should have gone more diagonal at times because the wind was quite strong. There wasn’t an abundance of chances for either side and it wasn’t a great spectacle, but it was important to get a point.”

Mills did switch to 4-3-3 midway through the second half, introducing Danny Racchi and Jamie Reed for Ashley Chambers and Michael Rankine, who both struggled to impose themselves on proceedings, with the City boss saying: “Ash Chambers is going through a bit of a period where things are not really happening for him so I decided to bring Danny Racchi on for his set pieces and good feet to try and open something up for us.

“I also wanted Jamie Reed’s pace as Michael Rankine was getting a bit frustrated again.”

Mills paid tribute to midfield anchorman Scott Kerr after he recovered from a groin problem picked up on Tuesday to complete 90 minutes in Cumbria.

“He did not want to miss the game, which is superb,” the Minstermen chief said.

Chris Carruthers was unable to travel after going over on his ankle in training.