YORK City boss Jackie McNamara has reiterated the importance of lowering squad numbers at Bootham Crescent following the departure of Marvin McCoy.

The Minstermen still have 28 professionals on their books, including four loan signings, with McNamara still eager to lower that number to a more manageable figure.

He explained: "Ideally, I'd like to work with about 20 players and a couple of youngsters like Taron Hare and Callum Rzonca, who have done well in training, but I've not seen them in competitive games, so it's hard to make judgements on them."

With McCoy gone and Eddie Nolan set to follow, McNamara is happy to place his faith in on-loan Burnley reserve Luke Hendrie at right back after he made his debut during last weekend's 1-0 home defeat to Newport.

"I feel young Luke has given us more energy going forward from right back and is also able to get back to defend as well," the City chief reasoned.

With his bottom-of-the-table team travelling to promotion hopefuls Carlisle tomorrow three points from safety, meanwhile, McNamara remains optimistic about the club's survival hopes, arguing: "There are 63 points to play for and I'm confident that we will stay up but that has to be reflected on the pitch.

"We need to start games better than we did against Newport but we've shown we have the ability to play and we have some good players here."

The ex-Scotland international has also vowed to reward City's fans for their loyalty after meeting with supporters' group the Pocklington Minstermen this week.

"It was good to meet the fans," he explained. "The support has been fantastic since I've been here and they deserve better than we have been giving them. They have stuck by us and we've got to repay them."