DAN BATTY is relishing the positive atmosphere within the York City squad.

The midfielder has been a standout player for York so far this season, flourishing in a new role of dropping into defence and helping move the ball further forward, particularly with his long-range passing ability.

Batty put his impressive performances down to an improvement in his fitness during the off-season, and spoke on the improvement throughout the squad since last season.

“It’s been a complete turnaround from last year,” Batty enthused.

“It’s nice to see us put some results together, especially back-to-back and I think that’s now three on the spin.

“It’s a good feeling around the place at the minute.

“I don’t see why you wouldn’t be smiling, the results have been going well for us.

“It’s probably the highest we have been in the league in a long time, we just need to keep putting the performances together and hopefully we can continue like we have been.

“I feel like in this pre-season we had a good go at it, I got myself into good shape and I feel like it’s paying off.

“Especially in these first games, the team are looking fit and we’re lucky that we’re so strong as a team.

“When you’ve got people to cover for you, it’s always going to be a tough game for them.

Batty was rewarded with the man-of-the-match after his display in York’s 2-1 victory over Braintree Town on Tuesday evening, impressing in a performance where City had initially fallen behind to the Iron.

Ricky Aguiar responded to Frankie Terry’s opener with a well-struck half-volley, before Ashley Nathaniel-George won the Minstermen the match with a finish on the brink of half-time.

Batty was pleased with the response that York provided, but admitted that he felt the side could have performed to a higher standard.

“I think we were good, but I feel like we can kill teams off a bit better.

“We’ve scored two goals but if we could score a bit more then we can really hurt teams and really kill it off even more.

“We defended our box well towards the end and when we needed to, but we also managed the game well with the ball and without it.

“It’s a good result for us, we’ll take it.

“I believe that in the game, we weren’t at our best.

“If we got an early goal then I think that we would have continued to win the game, but unfortunately we didn’t get a goal early on.

“We’ve bounced back well, it’s a few results on the bounce now so we can’t complain.”

Batty is one of just three players to not miss a minute for City so far this season, alongside Callum Howe and Joe Felix, but admitted that he wasn’t in need of any rest, speaking on the rotation method that manager Adam Hinshelwood has been using as of late.

The midfielder confirmed: “I feel fit, I feel fine.

“I want to play every minute if I can, hopefully I can continue being injury-free and crack on.

“Everybody is needed, everybody has been needed. The rotation, especially up top, front three and fresh legs can kill teams off in half an hour or 20 minutes.

“It’s not a punishment, if we rotate it we can keep it fresh.”