YORK City’s new left-back David Ferguson is a “leader and a winner.”

That was the view of Bootham Crescent chief Martin Gray after making the former Championship defender his first signing since taking over from the sacked Gary Mills last weekend.

Ferguson, 23, joined forces with Gray at their previous club Darlington after leaving Northern League outfit Shildon in January and attracted interest from Accrington Stanley following a series of eye-catching performances for the Quakers.

He had previously captained Blackpool in League One at the age of 21 and also donned the armband for his county this year at England C level.

Ferguson’s transfer is believed to have cost the Minstermen a five-figured sum and the 5ft 11in defender is now earmarked for his City debut in tomorrow’s National League North home match against Brackley with Alex Whittle rated doubtful due to a groin strain.

“He’s got experience at this level and higher,” said Gray of the one-time Sunderland reserve. “At 20 and 21, he was playing in the Championship and captaining Blackpool.

“He then dropped out of the game and we picked him up at Darlington. He’s also captained England C and he’s a leader and a winner.

“He knows exactly what I’m about and will be a great asset to the football club. He has already scored four goals from left back this season so, even though his job is to keep clean sheets, he likes to get forward as well.”

Gray went on to deny knowledge of a further approach to lure goalkeeper Adam Bartlett from the club he has just left after five years in charge.

Darlington’s official website claimed an offer for Bartlett had been rejected, while Gray also declined to comment on speculation that striker Mark Beck was going to follow Ferguson down from County Durham, simply stating: “We’re working very hard to bring in players, so we’re in contact with lots of clubs, managers and agents.

“That’s not to say the players coming in will go straight into the side, but it’s important to keep looking and improve the strength of the squad.”

Despite Beck being a 6ft 5in target-man, Gray added that City’s veteran talisman and six-goal top scorer Jon Parkin remained a big part of his plans going forward.

“Jon Parkin is here long term,” the ex-Sunderland midfielder insisted. “He’s a massive, massive personality and player at this club who is fantastic around the changing room and he will be playing tomorrow.

“He has a great goal return throughout his career, having scored more than 200 times at all levels and he brings experience and mental strength.”

Josh Law, meanwhile, has recovered from the groin problem that saw him miss the 3-2 FA Cup defeat at South Shields and is expected to be recalled by Gray, but the high-blood pressure problem that has ruled Michael Rankine out for training and playing for the last three weeks remains unresolved. The new City boss has spent most of this week familiarising himself with his new charges and, on the basis for picking his first team, Gray declared: “We’ve had a strong week’s work and have been finding a lot out about people.

“We’ve spoken one-to-one to individuals, as well as to different units of the team, about our expectations. I’ve watched the South Shields game and it should have been 4-0 to them at half-time.

“I also saw the team play Blyth Spartans earlier in the season and we’ve watched as much footage as possible to get our minds set on what will be the right team for tomorrow. There will be one or two changes that I feel are right and, moving forward, I’ll be judging players in terms of what they do on the training ground, as well as on match days.”

Gray’s Darlington took four points from a possible six against Brackley last term – March’s 1-0 home win following a 2-2 away draw a year ago this weekend – but the Stockton-born 46-year-old has full respect for the visitors, while targeting maximum points as his Bootham Crescent reign gets underway.

“Brackley are a very good team and probably should have got to the play-offs last season, but their runs in the FA Cup and FA Trophy probably hampered them in the end,” Gray pointed out. “We know they are very strong defensively, but I want to get off to a winning start and we have to make sure we put in a fantastic performance at home.”