Manny Parry was back to his best alongside Jamie Coyle in Maidstone’s play-off win at Truro.

The pair were the meanest defensive partnership in National League South before a knee injury left Coyle on the sidelines for two months.

Parry missed player-coach Coyle as Maidstone started to leak goals, even though he felt he was building an understanding with Callum Davies.

Former Stoke trainee Parry said: “A lot of people say it brings out the best in me when I play with Coyley. Being experienced, he can talk me through games and I can concentrate a bit more on myself, knowing he’s there to guide me along.

“Me and Callum, neither of us go out on a Saturday to concede goals, we try and give our best every week.

"It took some time to get used to each other because he came in at Christmas and we hadn’t had a pre-season together. But we’ve had some good performances and some of the goals we’ve been unlucky with.”

Truro threw everything at Maidstone at the end of the first leg and Parry expects a similar test in the return as the Cornwall club look to overturn a two-goal deficit. The defender is up for the challenge, knowing he’s two games away from a place in National League.

He said: “It’s far from over. Truro are a good side, they had some chances and they’ve got nothing to lose. I’m sure they will be up for it. It’s only half-time.

“They know there’s no point coming to us and sitting back. They might as well try and throw everything at us, so we’ll have to stand up to it."