TEENAGE York City midfielder Ben Godfrey has admitted playing alongside 36-year-old veteran Jonathan Greening is an education.

The pair, who are separated by 19 years, were second-half team-mates and inspired an improvement during Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Sky Bet League Two leaders Plymouth.

Greening was introduced at the break with the hosts trailing to goals from Jake Jervis and Graham Carey and the ex-Manchester United midfielder's reliable anchoring performance allowed Godfrey to surge forward and claim his first senior goal in stoppage time.

City's 17-year-old hopeful could now work in tandem with Greening from the start at Leyton Orient this weekend with the Bootham Crescent youth development phase coach having re-registered as a player on non-contract terms 18 months after his last professional appearance for Nottingham Forest.

On Greening's influence, Godfrey said: "He adds composure and slows the game down. He's played at the highest level and we can all learn from him.

"He does some unbelievable things and you get confidence playing alongside him. He controls things, he's a leader and you just really trust him.

"He makes the right decisions with everything and, because of his past, he knows what he's doing. He also passed on some important messages to me.

"When he came on, he did that holding role and controlled the area in front of the back four. Our intensity became massively different and Plymouth spent most of the second half on the back foot."

Despite the defeat, Godfrey also admitted scoring in front of the David Longhurst Stand was a special moment for him personally, explaining: "It was a great feeling to get my first goal in front of an important stand that means a lot to me because I've been in it a few times when I was growing up.

"When the ball came to me, I was just thinking don't lash it over and keep composed because I've hit a few off target. It's just a shame it was a consolation, otherwise I would have celebrated it a bit more.

"Instead, it was just a case of regrouping and seeing if we could get an equaliser, but there wasn't enough time."

The former York Schoolboys captain also revealed that his goal fulfilled a half-time prophecy from new boss Jackie McNamara.

"Before we went back out for the second half, he told me I was going to get a goal, so it was a case of making sure I got one then," Godfrey smiled. "I've been wanting to add goals to my game for a while because goals from midfield are invaluable.

"Hopefully, I can get a few more now. I don't see myself as an attacker really, because I enjoy defending as well, but I like to get box-to-box and everyone wants to get on the scoresheet."

Godfrey went on to confess that his and the team's second-half display was a big improvement on the opening 45 minutes, suggesting: "We gave them too much respect in the first half.

"Me and Micky Collins could have both been a bit higher up the pitch and winning second balls, so we let them off a little bit but the second half was much better. Me and Micky were instructed to push forward more because we needed a goal."

Godfrey insists, meanwhile, that he is not finding his baptism to professional life in the lower reaches of the Football League a strain, reasoning: "There's a bit of pressure to get results but it's what I've wanted to do ever since I was a young boy.

"You imagine yourself playing in situations where there's a massive amount of pressure on you, but you've got to handle that and enjoy it and I'm 100 per cent confident that we can turn things around.

"Saturday's second half is a good place to start because, if we play like we did in the second half on Saturday against other teams in this division, we will beat them."

On McNamara's first fortnight in charge, Godfrey added: "He's brought positivity despite the situation we are in. He's constructive with his criticism and has really good ideas to bring to the team."