Elliot puts keeper’s union to one side
ELLIOT PARISH has bounced around eight English clubs after leaving Aston Villa’s academy six years ago, so it is perhaps unsurprising the 27-year-old goalkeeper has developed a self-centred streak.
There is usually a camaraderie between goalies, but Parish has admitted he has little sympathy for Scott Bain’s dispute with Dundee that has led to his elevation to first choice.
And Parish vindicated that decision when he made a crucial save to stop Lee Erwin clinching victory for Kilmarnock seven minutes from time.
Parish said: “We’re in a team sport and I’m all for this team, this manager and everyone at the club.
“But you have to be selfish within that. Me being selfish is going to help the team.
“I’ll be honest, whatever’s going on with Scott, I’m not interested. I just want to keep my spot and help the team climb the league.”
Bain is out in the cold after a row with manager Neil McCann and his subsequent reluctance to pay a club fine.
So a first clean sheet of the season and an end to a losing streak that stretched to five games has endeared Parish to the locals.
He said: “I just wanted to come in and get some confidence into the team. My job is to get clean-sheets. That’s my second game and I’ve got one.
“It’s often the way that you have nothing to do all day and then you’re suddenly in a one v one.
“For me, he [Lee Erwin] panicked. I got a good shape and pulled off the save.”
All of the talking points of a largely forgettable match came in the final phase when Dundee lost their captain Darren O’Dea after two bookings, before Parish made the Erwin save and Eamonn Brophy hit the bar with a header in injury time.
Brophy said: “Obviously, I was disappointed that it didn’t go in but, in the end, that was probably a fair result.”