York City boss' view of pre-season defeat to Sheffield United

A strong test against Sky Bet Championship opposition for York saw United come out on top, despite an even contest between the two teams. 

Tyrese Sinclair had opened his account with the club through a composed finish, before Ryan One drew the Blades level from close-range.

An impressive second-half strike from William Osula left Rory Watson rooted to the spot, as the visitors left North Yorkshire victorious. 

Hinshelwood wasn't too pleased with the result, admitting that it was imperative that his side did not 'become accustomed' to losing, but took the positives from the opening friendly of the 2024/25 season.

“I don’t want us to become accustomed to losing games, so I’m disappointed with that, but all in all I thought it was a good work out," Hinshelwood told the Press.

"There’s lots to be positive with, in the first-half we played some good stuff with a lot of new players that are still finding their feet.

"There were elements of our games that was really good, and as far as first games go, it was a disappointing result but we will take the positive.

“I thought that some of our play and some of our build-up play was good, there were some good individual performances and they all linked up quite well in the first-half.

"I thought that the fitness levels were good, we’re playing against a Championship side that are a few levels above us in the ladder.

"At times I thought that we held our own and gave them a good game and lots to think about.

"There is plenty for us to work on, as you’d expect with it being week one, game one in pre-season.

"We want to take the positives and build on them, it’s all about getting ready for Southend at the first game of the season."

Hinshelwood hopes that a first City strike from Sinclair will provide a confidence boost to the winger, who signed a permanent deal with the Minstermen after his contract expired with Rochdale.

Hinshelwood continued: “The goal that we scored came from good shape in ourselves, we broke well and it was a great finish from Ty.

"We’re hoping that he will take confidence from that, he’s scored a few goals here I think now over the last few years.

"We want to really relish him playing here, it was some of the lads’ first taste of playing here, they will take a lot away from it, will learn a lot which in the main will be a real positive."

Hinshelwood would go on to explain the decision-making process behind both starting line-up's from both halves, admitting that a lot of the team was shaped by small injuries.

“Ryan Fallowfield had a slight tweak to his calf so it was important that he started the game, he did the warm-up and build-up to it," Hinshelwood explained.

"Ricky [Aguiar] has not trained as heavily as the other boys so he needed a good warm-up and build-up to it.

"Dipo [Akinyemi], we wanted to do a bit more running with him because he missed a session through a bad calf.

"There were a coupe of decisions there on what was best for the players, and then we tried to fit the team around it after those decisions had been made.

"I know people will look into it potentially as a first-half team and a second-half team, but it’s more of those kind of decisions on how it’s made."