MILLWALL boss Gary Rowett has been impressed with Troy Parrott in the first week of pre-season – and revealed Shaun Williams has taken the young striker under his wing.
Rowett said Parrott has shown “an incredible attitude” as the Lions continue their pre-season preparations in Scotland.
Williams, like Parrott from Dublin and an Ireland international, similarly guided Jayson Molumby when the midfielder was on loan from Brighton last season.
“Willo’s done the same thing again, he’s really good like that,” Rowett said. “He’s made it very easy for Troy to settle. The other players are great as well anyway so it’s not hard to settle into the group.
“He’s an 18-year-old lad, come from a Premier League Club, with a very good reputation. I’ve been impressed with the way he’s settled in. He’s got on with his work, he’s shown an incredible attitude and desire to want to work hard. That’s the first thing.
“We know he’s got ability, we know he’s got really good technical attributes including being a very composed finisher. But sometimes when you look at a player coming into a group you say, ‘okay, how hard are you going to work to be part of the group and to show everyone you really mean business?’ He’s done that so far, so I’m really pleased with him.”
Parrott will be competing for a place in the side with Tom Bradshaw, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Matt Smith, the latter who was Millwall’s top scorer last season with 14 goals.
Rowett isn’t setting any goal targets for Parrott.
Rowett explained: “Not really, because you want as many goals as you can get. I don’t really set targets because players know what they need to achieve to have a good season.
“We said at the end of the season what we needed to improve, how we needed to improve and in what areas, including statistically where they need to improve. They know.
“I’m not setting individual targets and team targets, we just try to be the best we can every day. That’s the goal, every day to try to maximise what we’re doing and then the performances come as a natural progression of that.”
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