DORCHESTER Town right-back Kyle Egan believes the Magpies are playing “without fear” under boss Callum Brooks.

Egan, 21, made his 100th appearance for Dorchester in the 0-0 draw at Hendon on Saturday in a Magpies career that has encompassed three separate stints at the club.

And the former Exeter defender has credited Brooks with freeing his squad to “express” themselves in attack, while giving a solidified base in defence.

He told Echosport: “I really like Cal, I really get along with him. I think he understands the way I like and want to play.

“He’s just letting us express ourselves, he’s made us hard to beat. He’s put a real focus on us defending as a team, as a unit and getting back to that way.

“When we’re going forward and attacking and have the ball he just wants us to express ourselves, play without fear and just have fun while we’re on the pitch instead of being a bit loose.”

Asked whether Brooks had imparted more structure to the Magpies’ tactics than previous manager Steve Thompson, Egan said: “I can’t say a bad word about Tommo.

“When he was there we did our best for him and he did the best he could as well. It just didn’t work out he way it should have.

“It’s a difficult one. I just think we’ve got more focus with Callum coming in. He’s changed the dynamics a little bit and Nathan (Walker) has helped as well with a bit of guidance.”

Commenting on his century of games for Dorchester, Egan said: “I’m buzzing to have hit that sort of milestone.

“It’s come quicker than I thought and it’s obviously a really good achievement.

“Ever since I first came to Dorch I’ve really enjoyed myself. Credit to every manager that’s been with me at Dorch – every single one gave me an opportunity and put their trust in me.

“I love it at Dorch, all the fans are great, everyone around the club is great, I love all the lads, it’s a really great place to be playing my football at the moment.

“It’s an added bonus that we’ve got quite a young team because we’re in a similar position and we’re getting the best opportunity.

“I just want to keep playing as many games as I can, keep helping the team in the best way I can and hopefully go on and on with Dorchester.”

With Brooks deploying more defensive tactics at Hendon, Egan felt the Magpies’ back line relished the extra responsibility.

He said: “It puts a bit of pressure on us as a back four as well, which I think we need. Me and Cal (Rose) being younger, Jacko (Sam Jackson) then Nathan there helping us out is making us learn and develop quicker than some other people.

“We’re getting that pressure put on us at a younger age and at this stage of the season, coming off the back of the loss.

“The attackers do their thing and when we get called upon it’s our duty to do that. I enjoy having that pressure on you.”

Dorchester occupy 14th place and have just four games left to preserve a six-point gap to Gosport in the first relegation place.

However, Egan expects the Magpies to “fight it out” and believes the club will beat the drop.

He said: “It’s really tight and the way we’re looking at it is one cup final at a time. Four games left – two of them we’re not expected to win.

“But we’ll go away and fight it out, play our best, defend as well as we can and attack as a team and see what we get. Everyone loves an underdog!

“I do honestly believe that we’ll stay up. The team that we have I don’t think we should be going down – I’m confident we’ll stay up.”