YORK City and Neal Ardley have wished supporters a very Merry Christmas, and hope that the club can provide fans with an early present.

Most supporters will be fortunate enough to spend Christmas with their loved ones and away from work, and Ardley will be sharing the same joy, with his family coming to visit from down south.

However, the City boss is concerned that his family time with be clouded by thoughts on York’s Boxing Day clash with Gateshead, with Ardley joking on his dilemma.

“I hope they have a great Christmas because that means that we will have picked up some points and won games!” Ardley told the Press.

“Nothing changes - enjoy the time with the family, enjoy the game hopefully on Saturday, Boxing Day if they come and on New Years.

“We’ll be working really, really hard not having time off like they will be to try and make sure that we get as many points as we can on the board. If we do then hopefully everyone will be celebrating Christmas together.

“I haven’t hardly spent any time with my own kids because I’ve been living up here and living on my own.

“The fact I’ve got my two kids coming up to spend Christmas with me, that for me is great.

“People go home to their family every day and I don’t. I’m up here without my children.

“That will be a bonus for me, that will be something that I will love and enjoy, certainly on Christmas Day.

“The whole time I’ll probably be thinking ‘who am I going to play there?’ or ‘how am I going to do that?’. I’ll be thinking about the Gateshead game!

“You get your head around it. Any time I get with the family at Christmas is a bonus.”