ON-LOAN York City goalkeeper Aaron McCarey has thanked his new team-mates for giving him a quiet afternoon on his debut.

McCarey was only required to save two shots during Saturday’s 0-0 home draw with Rochdale and admitted that was testament to the displays of City’s outfield players.

The Wolves shot-stopper was recruited following previous loan signing Nick Pope’s recall by parent club Charlton with Michael Ingham still sidelined by a hip flexor injury.

On his comfortable first 90 minutes for the Minstermen, McCarey said: “I didn’t really have much to do other than deal with a few crosses and kicks, which is thanks to the back four and the players in front of them for not letting the opposition in on goal.

“It was a good performance and we were solid throughout. Our front two were superb hassling the Rochdale back four and gave them a rough time for the whole game. They were a good team near the top so it was a good solid point and clean sheet even if we were a bit disappointed not to win.

“I was happy to get my debut out of the way though and, hopefully, I can kick on now and help York move up the table while I am here.”

McCarey was also pleased that unfamiliarity was not a problem at the weekend, having only arrived in North Yorkshire on the eve of Saturday’s game.

He added: “I only had one training session before the game and it was really a matter of just getting to know the lads’ names as quickly as I could, especially the back four. We didn’t do much and just worked on shape a bit and other small things.

“We only had about 20 minutes working together and that’s probably not ideal going into a game but we showed on Saturday that it didn’t really matter because we got a good performance from everyone. It wasn’t really that hard for me.

“All the lads have been very welcoming and I enjoyed playing in front of the home crowd.”

With Wales’ number one Wayne Hennessey currently warming the bench for Wolves where Carl Ikeme is first choice between the sticks, Republic of Ireland Under-21 international McCarey welcomed an opportunity to increase his chances of first-team football when he answered the Minstermen’s SOS call.

“I’ve probably played two or three games this season at Wolves with reserve matches and about six or seven in total, including internationals with Ireland,” McCarey explained. “That’s not ideal really so I am happy to be here for games and I am looking forward to the next one already.

“I wasn’t actively looking to get out of Wolves and the move happened at the last minute, but it’s good to get the chance of some valuable game time because I’ve been missing that this season. Hopefully, I can help York out and they can help me.”

With a blank weekend coming up due to their first-round FA Cup exit, City are next in action at Burton on the following Saturday.

That gap in fixtures could give Ingham time to recover from his problem but McCarey has not given much thought to what happens when City’s long-time first-choice shot-stopper is available again.

“I will be taking things one game at a time,” said McCarey. “I am always ready for a fight and, at Wolves, I have had ’keepers ahead of me all the time.

“But I wouldn’t call it a fight between myself and Michael.

“He has been the number one at York for a long time and I’ve just come in as cover but we will see what happens when he comes back.”

McCarey is also hoping that his spell with fourth-bottom City can follow a similar pattern to his four-month stint with Walsall last term when the Saddlers lost just two of their 14 fixtures with the Monaghan-born 21-year-old in goal.

“It was my first taste of League football and good experience,” McCarey said of his Bescot Stadium stay. “I really enjoyed it and it went relatively well.

“I went in and they were in a dogfight after a bad run of games but we picked up points over time and were unlucky not to get into the play-offs by the end of the season.

“I learnt a lot there and it improved me so I went back to Wolves a better ’keeper.

“I am hoping the same can happen here and that I can get experience under my belt to go back as an even better ’keeper.”