YORK City boss Jackie McNamara has admitted Reece Thompson's Twitter announcement that he will be back at the club soon is news to him.

Thompson, 22, has not played for the Minstermen since October 6 when he was a substitute during the 2-0 Johnstone's Paint Trophy home victory over Doncaster.

His absence was initially described as a virus by club officials, before it was later referred to as a "long-term illness".

Thompson netted three times in his first five Sky Bet League Two outings following a summer move from Frickley Athletic.

He had earlier impressed as a City trialist and attracted interest from Bradford City after an eye-catching performance against Newcastle, in which he scored a spectacular goal.

Thompson made 12 appearances for the Minstermen before being struck down by the illness but, after almost four months without posting on the social networking site, he replied to a City fan's Tweet by saying: "yeah I'll be back soon mate and, hopefully, I'll bang in a few more goals to help us move back up the league."

McNamara is unaware, though, of when Thompson is likely to return for training and, equally, what condition he will be in following his long absence.

The City boss said: "I'm not aware of what he's said on Twitter but I've only seen him once since I came in here, so we'll wait and see what's happening. I've never seen him play or train and the biggest question is what he looks like in terms of his fitness because he's been away from the club for a long time."

Former Hull City under-21s captain Matty Dixon, meanwhile, could make his City debut in Saturday's clash at Carlisle with Brunton Park old-boy James Berrett doubtful due to an ankle injury Dixon was an unused substitute during last weekend's 1-0 home defeat to Newport and McNamara added: "Matty has trained well and settled in. We brought him in to play, so we'll see where we are after training tomorrow."