YORK City's youth team kicked off their pre-season friendly programme today with the carrot of first team football firmly in view.

City's young guns were taking on Wakefield College at the club's Wigginton training ground (kick-off 2pm) with player-manager Chris Brass promising senior football is there for the taking.

Brass, forced to operate with a smaller squad than in previous seasons, has already drafted third year trainees Levent Yalcin and Graeme Law and second-year 'keeper David Stockdale into the senior squad for training.

And in City's opening pre-season friendly with Sunderland last night the new City chief made good his promised by giving seven trainees, including Law and Stockdale, a chance to impress.

Yalcin is recovering from an injury he sustained towards the end of last season but expects to resume training next week.

Brian Neaves, assistant to City's head of youth development, Paul Stancliffe, admitted the club's youngsters have a terrific opportunity to progress.

"There is a big incentive there for them and we have talked it through with them and explained the situation," said Neaves.

"The gaffer is certainly having a good look at them in training.

"He has already mixed them in at training with the professionals twice now and he is intending to do it more as the season progresses.

"He hears from us how the boys are doing but it is obviously better if he sees it for himself."

Neaves said the club's new first-year trainees - goalkeeper Arran Reid, full-backs Nathan Kamara and Andrew Green, who featured against Sunderland last night, Michael Staley, a centre-half, midfielder Byron Webster and strikers Steven Lyons and Robbie Haw - had all settled in well.

With six second-year trainees and six third-years, Neaves admitted this season's youth team squad was well balanced.

"There is a good mix of ages," he said. "In previous years, we've maybe had ten players in one age group and smaller groups in other years. This one is a good blend."

Further aiding the youth team's chances of success this year, reasoned Neaves, was the fact most of the new first-year intake played a number of games for the Under-19s last season.

The likes of Haw, who was not likely to feature today because of a back injury, and Kamara, even sampled reserve team football last season.

Youth team friendlies: Monday, July 21, Selby Town, away, 7pm; Friday, July 25, Pickering U19s, away, 7pm; Tuesday, July 29, Boroughbridge, away, 7pm; Saturday, August 2, Pocklington Town, away, 2pm; Wednesday, August 6, Tadcaster Albion, away, 7pm.

Updated: 11:09 Thursday, July 17, 2003