YORK City manager Gary Mills praised his players for giving a good account of themselves in last night’s 2-1 pre-season friendly defeat to Sunderland.

Jamie Reed was on target from the penalty spot for the Minstermen in response to Phil Bardsley and Oumare Tounkara first-half goals for the Black Cats and Mills felt his side were probably worthy of a draw.

He said: “There were a few times when we gave the ball away but, in general, we kept possession well and had as many chances as them.

“They got two great goals but that’s Premier League for you and, overall, I was delighted with my players.

“They gave a good account of themselves and I thought we could have had another goal because Jason Walker should have had a penalty in the first half as well.”

An attendance of 5,148 was also well-received by Mills, who said: “The crowd was fantastic, getting 2,500 from Sunderland and 2,500 of our fans. It’s early days but hopefully our supporters will have liked what they saw.”

Midfielder David McDermott played no part in last night’s match but his foot injury has been diagnosed as less serious than first feared, with the Minstermen chief adding: “He’s okay. There’s no crack in his foot or anything so, hopefully, it will settle down in the next week.”

• City’s Blue Square Bet Premier trip to Fleetwood Town has been switched to Friday, August 26 (7.45pm) for live screening on Premier Sports.