Parker believes Mitrovic has turned corner

Aleksandar Mitrovic was struggling but Scott Parker believes the striker has turned the corner. 

Mitrovic came on as a substitute in the 0-0 draw with Brighton last week, and got his first Premier League start in eight games against West Brom on Saturday.

He set up the first goal for Bobby Decordova-Reid with a sublime pass. As a bonus, he lasted the entire 90-plus minutes.

His body language was calmer, with none of the arms-in-the-air despair seen in previous matches.

“You’re seeing the result of him being taken out of the firing line for a bit; the result of coming out of that pressure cooker that Mitro has been living in,” Parker said.

“Mitro had to watch from the sidelines and see the side do well, and there’s that competition there.

“The fighter that he is, he’s edging to getting back and taking his opportunity.

“That’s the evidence not just from West Brom but Brighton when he played, and I think we saw that.”

Mitrovic has been short of goals, as has everybody else in a white shirt, and Parker believes set-plays has a lot to do with it as they go in search of a first double of the season against high-flying Leicester on Wednesday night.

He said: “It’s something we are looking at.

“In terms of our numbers, we are pretty low on set play goals. We need the habits of attacking the box with real pace.

“The delivery has been pretty good, to be honest, it’s just the actual movement and a real threat of attacking the ball.”