DIEGO De Girolamo is “excited” by his return to York City having been played out of position following his recall by parent club Sheffield United.

The Italian under-20 international, who netted three times in four games as a striker for the Minstermen before heading back to Bramall Lane at the start of this month, has been playing out wide for the Blades during restricted opportunities at the Sky Bet League One club.

After leaving City, he played 83 minutes of the 1-0 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy defeat at Walsall and was also used as a 69th-minute and 81st-minute replacement during FA Cup ties with Crewe.

In the league, though, he was an unused substitute against Doncaster and Oldham and is delighted to be back at Bootham Crescent, where he intends to press his claims for a striking starting place again.

The 19-year-old attacker said: “I was playing out of position at Sheffield United. I can play on the left wing, I suppose, but it took a lot of adjusting to, so I was really excited about coming back, because the gaffer here plays me up front and that’s my natural position.

“I am looking forward now to getting some more first-team minutes and experience back on the pitch.”

Following his departure, Jake Hyde, Wes Fletcher and, most surprisingly, centre-back Keith Lowe have nudged one goal ahead of De Girolamo in the club’s goalscoring chart this season.

But the Chesterfield-born teenager is now planning to make up for losing ground in that contest, adding: “Hopefully, I will be able to get some more goals but I’m just concentrating on one game at a time.

“It’s Plymouth first and it would be good to get one there to get me started again. It would be a great achievement if I’m the top scorer when my loan is up in January and I would be happy with that.”

De Girolamo also has no qualms about swapping life on the fringes of a possible promotion push to the Championship for a potential leading role in City’s attempted climb away from the lower reaches of the Football League.

“The team did really well last week coming from behind to win 3-1 against Hartlepool and I hope that will carry on at Plymouth, so we can move up the table,” he reasoned ahead of today’s League Two clash in Devon.

De Girolamo has confirmed, meanwhile, that his Christian name was inspired by his Naples-born father’s biggest football hero – the legendary Diego Maradona who led the Italian side to their first-ever Serie A title in 1987 and a second in 1990.

“My dad was a massive Maradona, Napoli and Italy fan – 100 per cent,” De Girolamo revealed. “I think I was named Vialli for the first three or four days when I was born and then my Dad said ‘no, let’s call him Diego’.

“I’ve seen everything Maradona did on Futbol Mundial and I had lots of DVDs and videos of him when I was young.”

But despite being named after the great Argentine, De Girolamo admitted that he has never tried to mimic his inimitable style and has more modernn role models in the game.

“I can’t say I have tried to copy him because times have changed and he was before my time,” the on-loan City forward explained. “I have other players I watch now and I try to do the things they do.”