JOHN ASKEY insists that York City will not head to Maidstone United tomorrow (3pm) in "overconfident" mood despite the Minstermen's current nine-match unbeaten run.
York began life in the Vanarama National League with a 2-0 home win over Woking last weekend, after an eight-game streak without a defeat saw City promoted through the National League North play-offs last season.
Askey's side have not suffered a competitive loss since April's 3-0 beating at Alfreton Town.
In spite of that, Askey has stressed that York will not be presumptuous when they visit reigning National League South champions Maidstone at the Gallagher Stadium.
When asked if momentum from a promotion-winning campaign can be carried into a new term, the manager replied: “A lot of clubs do, you see it in all leagues.
“Hopefully that’s not the case for Maidstone, but it is the case for us.
"You get into a habit of winning. I think the feeling of a football club when you’ve got promoted helps that as well.
“We’ll have to be on our guard against them, but we’ve got to go in there with confidence.
"We’ve not lost for quite a long time at York City.
“We have to go in confident, but we won’t be overconfident.”
The Minstermen will be playing on a 3G pitch when they take on the Stones, who began their term with a 1-1 draw at Altrincham.
York produced strong performances on the unfamiliar artificial surface last season, particularly in the 4-2 league win at Bradford (Park Avenue) and the 3-1 Buildbase FA Trophy semi-final defeat at then-higher-tier Bromley.
“At Bromley in the first half, we probably played as well as I’ve seen a York City side play while I’ve been here,” Askey enthused.
“There’s no excuses, I just hope they’re able to water the pitch even though it’s 3G.
“If they don’t get water, it becomes very sticky, but I think coping with the heat will be a big thing for both sides.”
York head to Kent on the back of a dominant home win over Woking, although they can expect a different tactical challenge against Maidstone.
“Every game is different and that’ll be the case every time we turn out,” Askey added.
“Maidstone will be a lot more direct than Woking were, so we’ve got to deal with that.
“They’ve got a good following at home, they just got promoted and it’ll be a tough place to go playing on 3G. We’ve got to adapt and hopefully we will.
“It’s very rare that they play out from the back, from what we’ve seen.
“There’ll be a lot more aerial battles and they’ve got one or two players who can hurt you.
“It’ll be a different type of game and the centre-backs will be asked to head the ball a lot more than they were against Woking.
“I feel the players we’ve got, we can adapt to whoever we play against.”
Elsewhere, York City youngsters Jonny Haase and Ben Dale have been loaned to Guiseley and Red Car Athletic respectively on one-month loan deals.
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