YORK City’s indefatigable midfielder Sean Newton has claimed football consultant Darren Caskey is the main reason he can run for miles.

Newton covered every blade of grass and patch of mud on Nuneaton’s uneven pitch during Saturday’s 3-0 FA Trophy win.

But the 28-year-old admitted that his fitness levels only soared after he started working with former Tottenham midfielder and England youth international Caskey in 2015 at the pair’s former club Wrexham.

Caskey was brought in as assistant manager by then Racecourse Ground chief Gary Mills, who acted quickly to make the 42-year-old his right-hand man again following his re-appointment as City boss in October.

On the debt he owes Caskey, Newton said: “He’s the best coach I have worked with in terms of whatever the session is or, if it’s snowing or raining, he gets the lads going and the tempo is ridiculous. I’m used to it having worked with him at Wrexham, but the other lads have admitted they have never trained at his intensity.

“The benefits are showing now, though, because a lot of teams could have blown a gasket on a heavy pitch like Nuneaton’s, but we were able to keep going, because his emphasis on fitness is incredible. Everyone is enjoying the training as well, because he doesn’t run you – it’s all done with the ball.

“Two-and-a-half seasons ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do the running I am doing now in the centre of the park and that’s all down to him.”

Newton has also pointed out that he is benefitting from the knowledge of another former top-flight campaigner in Simon Lappin who, at the age of 34, is as talkative as his new midfield partner but, by the former’s admission, makes more sense.

“I’m enjoying playing with Lapps because he talks you through the game,” Newton explained. “I know I talk, but he talks sense, I don’t.

“I just shout and scream and make sure everyone around me is on it. He is a very good pro and his understanding of the game is unbelievable.

“I’ll be honest and say he’s better than me on the ball and I just look to do his running and do my utmost to win possession, so he can use the extra quality he has got, having played regularly in the Championship, to help create a goal.”

Like Yan Klukowski, who Mills has converted into a centre back at the age of 30, Newton has also been surprised by his re-invention as a midfield dynamo, adding: “I’m enjoying it loads.

“I’ve played at left back most of my career, but the gaffer has always said to me that he thinks I can score and create goals playing further forward. We never really had another left back at Wrexham, but Whitts (Alex Whittle) is great at this level and, for me, should be playing higher, so that’s allowed me to play in midfield for the last few games and I think I’ve been doing a good job for the team.

“If I’m not scoring or assisting, I’ve been winning second balls. You have to run a lot more than you do at left back and I’ve become more of a box-to-box midfielder, which sounds mad, because I never thought that would be me, but like being in the thick of things.”