OUTGOING York City manager Jackie McNamara believes his successor will be given funds to bolster the Bootham Crescent ranks.

City currently have a 28-strong senior squad, including youngsters Charlie Wardle and Nick Kennedy, but McNamara revealed that the club tried to recruit a new forward before today’s 1-1 FA Cup fourth qualifying round draw against Curzon Ashton.

The teams will meet again on Monday night in a replay at the Tameside Stadium with McNamara revealing that there is still scope to recruit new faces, whilst admitting some of his own summer signings have struggled to make an impact.

“There will be the chance to get a few players in and a striker is imperative,” the ex-Scotland international reasoned. “I’ve been trying to do that for the last six weeks, but it’s not happened unfortunately.

“We tried to do it before the Curzon game because, although a new manager will be coming in, it’s so important for everybody connected with York City that the club gets through to the next round and has a good cup run, but teams didn’t want players cup-tied. There are other positions that could be strengthened as well.

“With some players, it hasn’t worked with them coming up to this level - ability wise and on the mental side. I take responsibility for that because I gave them the opportunity, but there’s only so much you can do and it’s down to them how they handle it when they cross that line.

“I’ve had my career as a footballer and the younger players have the opportunity now to change their lives and make names for themselves, rather than just surviving in the National League.”

Following the draw, McNamara insisted he would not be involved in the interview process to decide on his replacement, but was later pictured in a meeting with former boss Gary Mills and chairman Jason McGill at the Fairfield Manor Mercure Hotel in Skelton.

In his post-match press conference, he had earlier confessed: “Players know a new manager is coming in and it’s a case of the sooner the better for them, the fans and everybody else, but it’s important that the chairman makes sure it’s the right person as well.”

McNamara added that he felt City’s players suffered from anxiety once more in their first meeting with the Manchester part-timers, whilst also lamenting the lack of a cutting edge.

“There was a lot of fear in our play again,” he bemoaned. “Players were frightened to get the ball and make things happen.

“It’s very difficult for me to understand why they are scared, because the team gets good home support and they don’t get a lot of abuse, but the fans are crying out for somebody to get on the ball and get at the opposition. There needs to be characters and motivation to get into the next round.

“We also got our goal from a penalty after the first time we got in behind them, but we didn’t do that again during the rest of the game.”

McNamara went on to question the conditioning of an unidentified player or players, saying: “The diet has to be there and somebody like myself takes that for granted but, if you’re not fit for purpose, that reflects on me as a manager.”