JOSH CARSON has revealed how dropped goalkeeper Michael Ingham helped rouse spirits ahead of York City's stunning comeback against Hartlepool at the weekend.

The Minstermen were booed off the pitch at Victoria Park having finished the first half a goal down at their bottom-of-the-table hosts with Carson confessing that there was a deflated atmosphere in the visitors' dressing room.

But the fit-again winger reckons manager Russ Wilcox 's subsequent "rollicking" and a speech by Ingham, who had been replaced by on-loan shot-stopper Alex Cisak for the game, inspired an improved second-half showing that secured a 3-1 win.

On the half-time inquest, Carson admitted: "We were down in the dumps but the gaffer gave a very good team talk and Michael Ingham gave his input. He encouraged us and, as a senior player, spoke up when the lads were down and it worked.

"The gaffer told us to have a bit of heart. We had been booed off at half-time, which was probably fair enough looking back at it and the gaffer gave us a bit of a rollicking, which we deserved.

“There were a few sloppy things, including from myself coming straight back into the side, but hopefully the fans saw what we can do in the second half. We showed we can play and deserved the three points.”

Carson added he was shocked to be handed his first start since suffering ligament damage in March and was delighted to complete the entire game.

“It was fantastic to last 90 minutes,” the former Ipswich attacker said. “I didn’t think I would get through the whole game, but the gaffer and Steve Torpey pushed me through it and I feel better for doing it.

“I would like to thank the manager, Steve and Jeff (Miller) the physio for the last eight months because I’ve had my ups and downs. While I was surprised to start, it’s great to get back out there doing what I love.”

Four days earlier, Carson had struggled to make an impact as a 64th-minute substitute in the 3-1 FA Cup replay defeat at AFC Wimbledon and reasoned that he probably benefited from starting Saturday’s match rather than being introduced from the bench.

“It’s quite hard to get into the pace of a game when you come on,” he explained. “You’re trying to get to the same level as the rest of the lads who have been playing 70 minutes and it’s hard.

“On Saturday, I started a bit sluggishly for the first 20 minutes but woke myself up, dug in and did a bit more after that.”

Carson provided the corner that saw Keith Lowe head in City’s equaliser and has described his defensive team-mate as a great target in set-piece situations.

“Everyone knows how good Keith is in the air,” the Ballymena-born 21-year-old pointed out. “If you get it in that six-yard box, Keith’s going to head it in.

“Fortunately, he did that twice at Hartlepool and showed how vital he is in both boxes for us.”

Saturday’s victory meant the difference between being six points clear of the relegation zone, instead of hovering over that bottom two only on goal difference, but Carson has stressed that it was only one win and the team, with only three triumphs to their name all season, now need to rack up more starting with this weekend’s Sky Bet League Two clash at Plymouth.

On that challenge, he said: “We are focused on the task in front of us and want to grab another three points because, even though we got a win at Hartlepool and it was great to put distance between them and ourselves, we are still not in the best of situations.

“Hopefully, Saturday’s win can be the start of something because we need to kick on and start winning more games.”