JACKIE McNamara has given the biggest hint yet that he will be handed a new position at York City when he is succeeded as first-team manager.

The ex-Scotland international is continuing to take charge of the club in a caretaker role, despite the club announcing that they are seeking a new boss.

But, when asked if he would be remaining at the club, once his replacement is unveiled, McNamara said: “It’s not important what happens to me and that will become clear when the new manager comes in.

“The most important thing isn’t Jackie McNamara, it’s the football club. People only see Saturdays and we’ve not been good enough results wise or in some performances, but I’ve put a lot of work in behind the scenes and a lot of things have been put in place.”

McNamara also stated that the situations of assistant-manager Simon Donnelly and goalkeeper-coach Craig Hinchliffe would only be clarified when the new first-team chief is unveiled.

He is hoping, though, that the prospect of a new appointment will act as an incentive for the players in tomorrow’s FA Cup fourth qualifying round home tie against Curzon Ashton.

“Hopefully, the new manager can come in at the start of next week, so the players might think that somebody is watching on and they need to impress but, more importantly, it’s imperative the club get a win as well,” McNamara reasoned.

The former Dundee United chief went on to stress that dealing with expectancy will be the key for progress in the world-famous competition against the National League North minnows.

“We don’t know a great deal about them, but have looked at a bit of footage,” McNamara pointed out. “They are the underdogs and the pressure is all on us to handle that.

“The players have got to play with freedom and without fear, which has probably been the biggest problem this season and I think there’s even more pressure on this match, than in a league game.”

Attacker Aidan Connolly remains sidelined with a hamstring problem with McNamara confessing: “He has been a big loss for us over the last few weeks.”

Striker Fraser Murdoch is also unavailable after sustaining a groin problem in the pre-match warm-up at Braintree last weekend.

Josh Robinson (ankle) and Ben Barber (hamstring), meanwhile, picked up midweek problems in action for the reserves, but Lanre Oyebanjo is fit having suffered cramp in both calves in his return to senior duty last week.