NEW Zealand international Leo Bertos wants to end his nomadic existence by earning a permanent stay at York City.

The 23-year-old right winger made his Minstermen debut during Saturday's 0-0 draw at Kidderminster Harriers after agreeing to play on a non-contract basis.

Bertos is now hoping to be given another chance to impress after spending brief spells at five different clubs since being released by League Two outfit Rochdale in the summer.

He said: "It was pretty gutting to get released by Rochdale after two seasons in their first team and I have been trialing around the country ever since. I have been at Swindon, Doncaster, Bristol Rovers, Chester and Stevenage but it's the same situation everywhere.

"So many clubs don't have any money now and have already got their squads sorted out and spent their budgets. It's hard to get in somewhere but I know Colin Walker from my days at Barnsley and I managed to get hold of him and he told me York were looking for some players.

"I did train with them for a week in pre-season and maybe I should have stayed but I had offers from elsewhere that fell through. I am back here now and hopefully I can cement a place in the team, do well and help the team get into the next league.

"I'm non-contract at the moment but I would definitely be interested in signing for York because I need to play. I don't want to play reserve-team football."

Bertos' first-team apperances this season have been restricted to just six games for Chester this with his last outing coming during a 3-0 LDV Vans Trophy defeat at Cambridge United more than a month ago.

He was making only his fourth start of the season at Aggborough and admitted that he is lacking match fitness after being withdrawn on 82 minutes.

Bertos said: "I thought I struggled a little bit because I have not played any first-team games for a while. I've been playing reserve football most of the season and it was good to get out on to the pitch and get a good run-out.

"The game was a battle with not much football being played. In that respect, we battled well and played much better in the second half than the first.

"We got the ball down, played more and created more chances. It's a shame we could not have started like that because I think we would have won the game then."

City boss Billy McEwan was non-committal about Bertos' KitKat Crescent future after the game but clearly feels he can make some contribution at the club after throwing him in for his first start after just two reserve games.

McEwan said: "He's a lad we are looking at and are still looking at. He tired towards the end and that's why we brought him off.

"He gives us another dimension to our team and gives us penetration which you need at times in games."

Updated: 09:43 Monday, November 21, 2005