YORK City new boy Macaulay Langstaff is no stranger to the competition he faces for a starting XI shirt during the 2018/19 season.

Along with the likes of last season's 25-goal marksman Jon Parkin, former Sheffield United hopeful Jake Wright, the promising Alex Kempster and highly-rated teenager Flynn McNaughton, two of Langstaff's rivals for an attacking place - Jordan Burrow and Wes York - were also team-mates at the trio's former club Gateshead.

The 21-year-old forward is an admirer of both players' talents, but welcomes the challenge of securing a first-team spot with the Minstermen.

“I know them both and, with Jordan, you get what you see,” the Stockton-born striker declared. “He’s a big, tall target man who wins every header and is horrible to play against.

“He also chips in with a lot of goals. Wes has blistering pace that frightens people and I wouldn’t want to play against him as a defender.

“It’s always healthy to have options up front. It keeps the strikers working hard in training to prove they should be the ones playing, which is good for the club because it improves you as players.”

Langstaff is also pleased to be sharing a dressing room again with City’s returning midfielder and another Gateshead old boy Russ Penn, pointing out: “He has a lot of experience and has played a lot of games in the Football League.

“He’s also a very good player with a good passing range and he talks you through games, which is good for a young player like me. He has that captain feel about him.”

Despite Heed boss and former Newcastle right-back Steve Watson signalling that he wanted Langstaff on board at the International Stadium this term, the rookie forward was happy to drop down a division as he expects his new club to bounce back into the National League at the second time of asking.

“There was a takeover at Gateshead and a lot of uncertainty, so I was waiting to see what would come out of that,” he explained. “The manager told me at the end of last season that there would be an option for me to stay there but, in the meantime, my agent told me York were interested and I was interested in what they had to say straight away.

“Then, I came here, looked at the facilities, spoke to the manager and loved everything about it. The club should be getting promoted and winning the league and I’d like to think I can help them by playing as many games and scoring as many goals as I can.”