DANIEL Nti has been told to believe in himself if he is to save his York City career.

The former Worcester winger has returned to Bootham Crescent after National League North outfit Halifax decided against extending his loan spell.

Unlike frozen-out trio Danny Galbraith, Ben Clappison and Ben Barber, though, Nti will not be banished to training with the youth team and has been added to City’s depleted squad for tomorrow’s National League home clash against Gateshead.

But City boss Gary Mills warned: “He needs to up his game.

“I wouldn’t have let him go out in the first place if I thought he was right for us, but he’s come back as another body and we’ll see how he looks, having had five or six games for Halifax, which will have done him the world of good. Even though he’s only been gone for a month, he won’t know a few of the lads, so he’s got to fit in with them and he might be shocked by the quality and intensity of training now, so we’ve got to see if he can live with that.

“Some of the players I inherited were not good enough for the level and, with Danny, he needs to believe in himself more. You’re either a confident player or you’re not but, if you want to get on in the game, you have to believe in your own ability.

“You can’t let comments or poor games effect you in a way that you won’t go and succeed. Some people like the manager to tell them what a good player they are, but that can only take you so far and it has to come from within.

“I believe he can score goals, but I don’t know if he does when he gets in front of goal and, at the moment, we’ve got three up there who do.”

Mills will be pitched against a Gateshead team that he guided to the 2014 play-off final, who will also include former City double-Wembley winning squad members Paddy McLaughlin and Jamal Fyfield.

Eighth-placed Heed are just as keen to pick up points as relegation-threated City and, on the challenge his old team present, Mills admitted: “It will be a tough test.

“They’ve been a bit inconsistent this season, but they’ve found a bit of form coming into this game and had a really good win at Forest Green at the weekend. They’re not playing on Saturday now, so will feel the need to pick up points to stay close to the play-offs, but we’ve got to make sure they don’t get them.

“I had a fantastic time there and loved every minute of it. We were unfortunate to lose out at Wembley, but we nearly pulled it off and I worked with some lovely people at the club.

“If the chairman Graham Wood, who is a fantastic man, hadn’t left, I would probably still be there, because that was the reason I decided to move on. I’ll always remember my time there and I’m sure they will, but all friendships will go out of the window once the whistle goes.

“We’ll be coming up against Paddy and Jamal and they are two good lads and left-footers who did extremely well for me. They will be looking forward to coming back, but we just have to make it a miserable return for them.”