YORK City defender George Swan is determined to make up for his lost years as a professional.

Swan made his senior debut at the relatively late age of 21 when new Bootham Crescent chief Jackie McNamara started him in Tuesday night's 2-1 Johnstone's Paint Trophy defeat at Barnsley.

Despite being tipped for big things as Manchester City's youth-team captain, Swan's career stalled at the Etihad Stadium and during a subsequent move to Wolves due to a succession of injuries, including cruciate knee ligament damage, a broken leg and hip trouble.

But now he has tasted first-team action, Swan is desperate to start racking up appearances, saying: "My debut is something I've worked all my life towards. It was a great experience and I really, really enjoyed it.

"I thought it would come earlier but it didn't happen that way and, while the last couple of years have been tough because of injury, it was definitely worth the wait. But I want to make up for lost time now and am looking forward to kicking on because it's crucial I start playing.

"I'm 21, so I've missed a lot of my development years and I've got to play catch-up by keeping in the team. The only way I can do that is by putting in the performances so the gaffer keeps picking me."

McNamara gave an opportunity to Swan in only his second game in charge of the Minstermen after his predecessor Russ Wilcox ignored the ex-Leeds academy centre back's claims despite the team's disappointing defensive displays this term.

On failing to win a place under the manager who brought him to Bootham Crescent, Swan reasoned: "Patience has been the key for me. It's been frustrating but I've just been telling myself I can do it and have kept working hard to keep myself fit and trim because you can get dropped in at any point and there would have been nothing worse than feeling I wasn't ready when I was given my chance.

"I was ready the other night and felt I put in a solid performance. There are obviously things I can improve on because I'm still a young lad and I want to learn, so I've spoken to the gaffer about those things.

"We also talked about things I did well to make sure I keep doing them."

Despite defeat, Swan also reckoned there was cause for encouragement following the away tie at higher-division opponents.

"A little lapse in concentration cost us at the end but it was good to pit ourselves against a League One side to see where we are as players and as a team," he argued. "There were a lot of positives.

"We limited them to very few clear-cut chances and gave it a good go for 84 minutes. We've got to do that for 90 minutes now."

Swan was handed the task of shackling on-loan Newcastle United striker Ivan Toney at Oakwell and admitted it was a challenge he relished and will take confidence from.

"You want to see where you are as a player and whether you could play at that level when you play against these people," he pointed out. "It's something I've done in the past with the clubs I've been at and I've always enjoyed it."

Swan believes, meanwhile, that his new central-defensive partnership with Femi Ilesanmi, if persevered with, has potential.

"I liked playing with Femi," he confessed. "He's a bit more athletic than me and good in behind.

"I might be better on the ball to play out from the back, but I also feel any good partnership needs the opportunity to play together week in, week out and the centre of defence is such an important position. If a striker lets the ball go under his foot, it goes through to a midfielder but, if we do that, it can end up in the back of the net.

"You have to make sure you have a good connection with the other player and with your full backs to stop that from happening."

On the impression ex-Dundee United chief McNamara has made just over a week into his new job, Swan enthused: "The gaffer is creating a very professional set-up and we all feel a lot better for it.

"Areas have been identified that we need to improve on as a team and we already think we can do that. Certain things could have been said earlier in the season maybe, but now we all know where we stand and can kick on from here."

While completing 90 minutes, Swan also agreed with his manager's claim that the team need to get fitter.

"I was running on nervous energy so I didn't really notice anything until after the game when my legs were feeling it a little," he explained. "We had to do quite a lot of work defending because they had a fair amount of the ball and the fitness side of things is something we need to get better at to push on in the league."

Swan is now looking forward to playing in front of the Bootham Crescent faithful during tomorrow's clash with table-topping Plymouth, where he was born when dad Peter - the former City centre back - was playing for the Pilrgims.

"I thought the fans were class on Tuesday night," he said. "They didn't stop singing from start to end.

"We want them to keep coming every week so we must try and turn things around for them."