YORK City manager Neal Ardley hopes that Scott Burgess' attitude to training can be an example to his teammates after nailing down a spot in the Minstermen's starting eleven.

Burgess struggled to break into Ardley's team upon the former AFC Wimbledon and Solihull Moors' boss' arrival to York, but his performances and attitude to training has seen the midfielder earn a consistent spot in the starting eleven.

Ardley heaped praise onto the 26-year-old, and hopes he can be an example to his teammates, with Ardley continuing to renovate the training pitch with a new gym and breakfast plan in place.

“Scott Burgess is an example, he never played in my first five or six games and he never got in the squad," Ardley told the Press.

"But in training, the way he applied himself, he never sulked and he got on with it, at one point I had a conversation with him about going out and playing football.

"Now he’s in our team and is scoring a goal, it’s absolutely huge.

"It’s the ability to take on the information that we are giving, the ability to take on the development work that we’re trying to do with certain players.

"If you keep telling people time and time again about how to do it and they’re not changing, then that’s not great.

"It’s also the standards of getting in early, eating the right foods and we have breakfast at the training ground now.

"They’ve got eggs, they’ve got beans, they’ve got toast, they’ve got cereal, they’ve got porridge, they have got everything they need.

"Yet, some people still turn up at the last minute.

"It’s the little things like that, the training ground needs to be somewhere where you get in and get in with your teammates, you do your stuff and don’t leave straight after training.

"Now we’re putting a gym in place so there is always a reason to be in and around that training ground.

"That’s the culture of excellence that we want."

Ardley was pleased to see Burgess score his first goal in almost five years in Saturday's 2-0 victory over AFC Fylde, and is hoping that fellow winger Kai Kennedy can solidify his position in the team after also impressing in recent training sessions.

The City boss affirmed that Kennedy must transition his training performances to goal contributions on the pitch, with the former Rangers winger still looking to open his account for the club after moving to North Yorkshire following his release from the Scottish giants.

“First of all, it was only after the game that I realised that he hadn’t scored for four and a half years, if I had known that then I wouldn’t have played him!" Ardley laughed.

"It’s good for him and hopefully it gives him confidence.

"With Burge, we’ve still been looking at him and at what positions he can play, because he’s kind of a little bit of everything.

"He’s technically very sound and can handle the ball well, I think he understands the game but I certainly don’t think his best position is up front or off on the right as his best position.

"Is he a ten? You’ve got to picture numbers, and one thing with Burge is that he has trained unbelievably well even when he wasn’t in the team, he turned up with a smile on his face, did everything properly and when his opportunity has come he has taken it.

"He’s had probably five or six starts for me now, he’s assisted four goals and scored one.

"That’s the numbers that I’m talking about, and even Kai Kennedy has been playing really, really well lately and he has really stepped up, with his levels and his intensity and his work to drive in one-on-one work, he’s been excellent.

"It’s what I challenge them for, you’ve got to show me these things for me to put you into the team as an attacking player.

"Even Kai has done that, and now Kai needs to add the assists and the goals that go with that because those numbers are vital for those people in and around the team."