Getting games and among the goals is all York City signing David McDermott wants after a difficult campaign last year, as he tells STEVE CARROLL.

THE contract at York City is proof that if you work hard you can get the rewards. David McDermott knows all about that.

Commitment, dedication and perseverance – these are attributes that clearly come naturally to the 22-year-old winger, who has just signed a six-month deal at Bootham Crescent.

At the start of the year, former Kidderminster Harriers player McDermott didn’t know whether football could still be a career after he was struck down with ulcerative colitis – an inflammation of the colon – which hospitalised him.

Fatigued and unable to eat, the weight fell off.

“My legs were like toothpicks,” he said. “It got quite severe. I lost two stone. I had nothing left in my legs. None of the medications were working and I suffered with it for about three months – and spent a month in hospital.

“I’m on top of it now but it ruined my season.”

A drug normally used for treating cancer, Infliximab, helped McDermott get to grips with the problem but, as he recovered, another set-back was round the corner.

“I’d played 16 times up to November,” he added. “I nearly broke my leg at Wrexham last September and was out for about three weeks and then came down with the illness.

“I got back fit, went out on loan to Halesowen, came back and then someone messed my ankle up against Barrow in April. It was just a really bad year.”

It was enough to depress the most optimistic of people.

But McDermott, who first caught City manager Martin Foyle’s eye when playing at his first club, Walsall, refused to be cowed. He knuckled down and reckons Minstermen supporters, impressed with his pre-season displays, haven’t seen the best of him yet.

“I had a good game last year when I came to York and, when I was at Walsall, the gaffer was at Port Vale and had seen me play and had an inkling of what I could do,” McDermott said on the moves that brought him initially on trial to Bootham Crescent.

“I have got a six-month deal and have to hit the ground running. I have to knuckle down and I think there is still a lot more to come. I haven’t really played a game since November and I know I have still got a lot more to give. Hopefully I will soon be able to show what I can do.

“I’ve put a lot of hard work in since the illness and when I wasn’t playing football I was at the gym. Now I am getting a reward for the hard work I have done.

“It was a really hard season for me last year, but, at York with the supporters here and the lads, it has just been great. I couldn’t have asked for any more.”

McDermott scored the goal which saw York beat Morecambe 1-0 a couple of weeks ago and he is convinced he can play a key role in his new club’s push for Blue Square Bet Premier promotion.

What is more, he says he has seen a determination in his colleagues to get the job done this time following the heartbreak of play-off final defeat to Oxford United last May.

“It gave me a bit of confidence to score the goal against Morecambe and I am trying to concentrate on getting fitter and doing more in games,” he said. “I want to bring more attacking play to the team, score a few goals and get a few assists – helping the side create chances.”

“We have got to be looking to get promoted this season. It looks like we have a very solid side. The gaffer and Andy Porter are switched on and trying to get us ready and the lads, because they came so close, really want to go for it.

“I am very keen to get back to the Football League. The last two years have been static and I just want to make my mark.”