York City manager Gary Mills has issued a “hands off” warning to potential suitors of star striker Jason Walker.

League One high-fliers Sheffield Wednesday watched Walker for a third time this season during Saturday’s 2-1 home win over Grimsby Town and will have once again returned to South Yorkshire impressed.

The £60,000 summer signing claimed his 12th goal of the season with a sensational overhead kick to cancel out Craig Disley’s early goal for the visitors.

He then turned provider to deliver a right-wing cross that saw substitute Adriano Moké tee up Ashley Chambers for the 86th-minute winning goal.

About the Owls’ continual monitoring of Walker, Mills said: “I’m not surprised if they are watching him. I think he’s a 27-year-old player who should be playing in the Football League and strikers like him are few and far between.

“But, while they can all come and look at him, he’s going nowhere. He’s enjoying scoring goals for York City and is playing with a smile on his face.

“He’s worth his weight in gold to us and I’m looking forward to seeing his goal again on the match DVD. We know that, when he’s given half a chance, he’s capable of fantastic moments like that.

“You need to be a special player to finish like that and he also held the ball up well again for us.”

Chambers’ match-winning effort represented his sixth goal of the season and the third consecutive game in which he has found the net.

Having only netted three times in 29 outings for the Minstermen last season, Mills is delighted with the 21-year-old attacker’s improvement in front of goal.

Due to Chambers’ potential to hit the target, the City chief even decided against bringing super-sub Jamie Reed off the bench as the clock ran down on his side’s quest for a winning goal.

The City chief added: “We were thinking about bringing Reedy on – maybe for Ash – but we decided to keep him on because he seems to be scoring in every game at the moment.

“He deserves a special mention for that because his lack of goals was something that needed addressing and he’s kept plugging away until that side of his game has eventually come on.

“It’s also special when you see young Mokey pass the ball to Ash in their 18-yard box because he could have looked to beat somebody and put it in the bottom corner.”

Mills went on to describe how the victory was a reward for his team’s patience and determination to stick to their football principles.

He said: “It was a great win and a fantastic performance for a bunch of players who never stop believing in themselves. We never panicked and kept doing what we are good at – passing the ball.

“We believed the goals would come and, after their goalkeeper made a couple of good saves and one unbelievable one, it was a great equaliser from Jason. At 1-1, we never changed how we wanted to play and kept waiting for that opening to come, which it did.

“The players know their strengths and there was no question that we deserved the three points because the majority of the game was played in their half.”

Mills also singled out Scott Kerr, who turns 30 in two months’ time, for another midfield display that rolled back the years.

He said: “Scott Kerr has been incredible in the last half-a-dozen games. He’s been playing like a 20-year-old.”

The City boss, meanwhile, kept faith with centre-back Jamal Fyfield despite the mistake he made in the 1-1 midweek draw at ten-man Southport.

That consigned David McGurk to a third successive game on the bench, with Mills adding: “Jamal came through the game well and I don’t want to make a major issue of that.

“We’ve got a few young lads and it’s great we bounced back from Southport. I also thought my skipper (Chris Smith) was great at the back.”

Andre Boucaud was replaced for tactical reasons on Saturday with Walker limping out of the action late on due to a bruised calf, but both players are expected to start tomorrow’s home match with Cambridge.

The City manager said: “Andre’s ball retention was superb but, no disrespect to him, we needed a goal and you could probably have got odds of 250-1 on him being the next scorer. Jason got a kick on his calf and it stiffened up so he came off but, hopefuly, he will be fine for the Cambridge game.”