Bantams fans will start to see the best of me now, says Hines (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Bantams fans will start to see the best of me now, says Zavon Hines

7:30am Friday 19th October 2012 in Sport By Simon Parker, Bradford City Reporter

Zavon Hines is plotting the downfall of Cheltenham tomorrow with his confidence high after scoring against York

Zavon Hines has promised City fans that last week’s wonder goal is a hint of things to come from him.

The winger admits he is yet to produce his best form in a claret and amber shirt. But he heads into tomorrow’s home clash with travel specialists Cheltenham confident of building on his debut strike.

Hines said: “It was a good feeling and a good goal as well. It was a huge weight off my shoulders.

“I know what I can do and it’s just a matter of showing it to the fans and everyone else.

“I’ve always been confident but this had made me even more so and hopefully I can take it on. There’s a lot more to come. I play better when I’m under pressure and I look forward to every moment on the pitch.

“I’ve lost my way a bit since I got injured a couple of years ago but now I’m slowly coming back to what I could be.”

Phil Parkinson - who could bring in another wideman on loan this morning - is set to revert back to 4-4-2 against the third-placed Robins, who have not lost in their six away games.

Hines believes he can strike up the same understanding with left back James Meredith that the injured Kyel Reid has enjoyed.

Meredith evaded three tackles to set Hines on the way to his York equaliser and the winger said: “Mez is a good footballer as well as a good defender.

“He knows what I can do as well so he’s always looking to give me the ball. It’s important you’ve got a defender who trusts the wide player in front of them and I think it’s a good partnership.

“I don’t know much about Cheltenham and I’ve never played against them before. But if we do our jobs properly, we can beat anyone in the league.

“We’ve got to step it up again. Little lapses of concentration have cost us in games but we know we’re good enough as a team.”

Amazingly, City have only scored one first-half goal in the 12 games since they rattled in five before the interval against Wimbledon.

But Parkinson is not concerned and points to the high number of opportunities that his side have been carving out.

He said: “It’s more of a coincidence than anything else. Look back to the Port Vale game and we probably had more chances in the first half than in a long time.

“We’ve stuttered of late in terms of the points total and need to get back on track. It’s about implementing the performance for 90 minutes.

“We were terrific in the second half against York and need to reproduce that for the whole game. Do that and we’ll give ourselves a great chance.

“Cheltenham have a good away system and play on the counter-attack. It doesn’t surprise us that they are up there but they’re definitely beatable.”

City have not won in four league games but Parkinson believes they will benefit from having a free midweek. It has allowed the likes of Luke Oliver and Andrew Davies to rest knocks and given him a chance to carry out some proper training.

He said: “When you’re playing Tuesdays, training time is limited to organisational stuff. This week has enabled us to do more and the lads have been right on it, which is good to see.

“We play at our best on the front foot when we’re positive. We’ve played like that most of the season and we need that freshness in the legs to be able to do it.”

Oliver had been hampered by a sore hip that he jarred when landing awkwardly against Dagenham a fortnight ago.

The big centre half said: “A few of the boys have had knocks so it was handy we had the beginning of the week to rest up.

“But it was strange not having a game and I personally like playing Saturday and Tuesday. It keeps everything ticking over and the season doesn’t stop.”

Gary Jones, who has missed the last four games, was able to jog yesterday for the first time since being sidelined with a back injury.

Parkinson said: “It’s a positive sign. The pain has decreased and I think it will be onwards and upwards for him now.”