OUT-OF-CONTRACT York City midfielder Levi Mackin is ready to agree new terms with the Bootham Crescent club.
Mackin, 24, will hold discussions over his future with manager Martin Foyle today and, if he is offered a new deal, has signalled his intention to sign up for another season.
The former Wales Under-21 international played every minute of City’s three play-off matches, having featured in 34 of the club’s 44 league games.
And, despite the disappointment of Sunday’s 3-1 Blue Square Premier play-off final against Oxford, he is hoping to still be a Minsterman in 2010/11, saying: “I’m happy at York and we have a great group of lads so why wouldn’t I want to stay?
“I’m not under contract for next season but we will have talks today and hopefully, if everything goes well, I will be staying.”
Rather than causing a hangover when the team return from their summer break, Mackin also feels City must ensure their Wembley woe strengthens the team’s resolve.
If that is the case, even allowing for the relegation of Grimsby and Darlington from Coca-Cola League Two, the former Wrexham midfielder is confident the Minstermen can be challenging at the top end of the table again.
He said: “There’s nothing worse than coming back into the dressing room after a game like Sunday.
“All the lads were devastated and gutted and now it’s going to start sinking in what we have missed out on.
“Everyone is down but all we can do is come back and ensure this makes us stronger. I hope the experience of going to Wembley and losing the play-off final gives us an extra yard when we return for the start of next season.
“We have just got to get over it and come back fighting. If we can keep the majority of the team, there’s no reason why we can’t enjoy another successful season.
“We have all gelled together and I’ve really enjoyed some of the runs we’ve been on.
“We went on long unbeaten sequences and, looking back on the season, there have been a lot more positives than negatives.”
Reflecting on Sunday night’s defeat, Mackin believed conceding two early goals made City’s task all the more difficult.
He said: “That gave us a lot to do. The ’keeper gave us a lifeline when he dropped the ball over the line but, as we took a gamble to try to get an equaliser, they finished us off.”
Mackin also admitted City struggled to combat Oxford’s narrow three-man midfield with man-of-the-match Adam Chapman afforded too much space to dictate play, adding: “When I got the ball, I moved it about a bit but I could have been involved a bit more.
“They had a man sitting in front of the back four though and, basically, he had quite a lot of the ball.
“It’s one of those things. Sometimes you think we needed to get tighter but we’re just gutted with the final result.”
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