JOSH Carson has insisted he won't be sulking as he attempts to win back his York City starting place.

The 22-year-old former Northern Ireland international was given his first taste of Sky Bet League Two action as a 77th-minute substitute during Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Mansfield.

It has been a frustrating campaign for Carson, who has started 53 of his 63 appearances for the Minstermen, but the ex-Ipswich midfielder has decided against airing any disappointment concerning his lack of match action.

He said: "As a professional footballer, you want to play every game. Unfortunately, I haven't played in as many as I would have wanted this season and that's frustrating – but there's no point in sulking and being a bad professional.

"I'll just keep my head down and continue to work hard and, hopefully, that will pay off. It's not happening for me at the minute, but who's to say that won't change in a couple of weeks.

"I want to show the manager what I can do. He's been talking to me quite regularly and it's been good that he's been having those little words in my ear.

"I'll just keep doing what I'm doing in the meantime and, if I don't get a start, I'll just concentrate on coming off the bench and trying to make something happen in the latter stages of games."

Carson, meanwhile, agreed with manager Russ Wilcox's post-match assessment after Mansfield that the Minstermen must start taking more chances in front of goal.

This season has seen only two scored from open play – Reece Thompson's scrambled effort against Hartlepool and James Berrett's deflected shot at home to Yeovil.

Carson said: "In the first half (against Mansfield), we created a lot of chances. We had a lot of players in the box and should have got a couple of goals.

"I think if you hit the target, you always have a chance of scoring, but that's what we're lacking at the minute.

"We also created some chances in the second half but not enough. There were too many silly offsides and little things like that.

"We didn't really threaten their goal much and we lacked that cutting edge. That's definitely been a problem so far – but we're working on it and we do finishing drills most days to get into that habit of putting the ball in the net.

"Hopefully, we can do that soon. We're only five games in, so there's a lot of the season left to play."

Despite his lack of league action, Carson was City's Capital One Cup hero when his winning spot-kick secured a penalty-shoot out victory over Bradford.

The cheers from that pulsating night turned to jeers at the weekend, however, when the team were booed off by certain sections of the Bootham Crescent crowd, with Carson admitting the side need to get back to the same standard they set against the League One Bantams.

"That game was my highlight of the season so far," he admitted. "It was a great feeling and, hopefully, we can get those good moods and happy days back.

"But we won't if we're getting beaten every week or not getting results, so we've got to start playing better and killing teams off."

Following his success from 12 yards, Carson has also volunteered his services from the spot if needed in the future.

Luke Summerfield is the team's current penalty taker but is struggling with injury and, should he be on the pitch, Carson is happy to deputise.

He said: "If the ball is put down and I'm asked whether I want it, I'd definitely say yes – 100 per cent.

"That's my character. Even if I missed one, I'd feel exactly the same and after you've scored an important one like the one against Bradford, you're never going to turn one down again really.

"It was the first penalty I've taken in senior football, so it was quite nice to see it go in."

Carson is now backing the team to recover from the disappointment of Saturday's defeat in time for this weekend's trip to Terry Butcher's winless Newport team, who are currently propping up the Football League.

"Defeats hurt for a couple of days and I find them hard to get over – but we've got the character in the squad to do that," he reasoned.

"I'm expecting Newport to be a big, physical team, so we have got to try and match their aggression. Then I think we have the best side in the league in terms of quality, but we've just got to show that."