Keeper Jon Worsnop to switch to coaching role at York City but will still be called upon in an emergency

New boss Martin Gray is poised to hand Leeds United shot-stopper Bailey Peacock-Farrell his City debut at Leamington tomorrow after the Darlington-born, 20-year-old completed a one-month loan move to Bootham Crescent.

Worsnop, 34, was dropped for Gray’s first match in charge with Luke Simpson preferred for the 2-1 home win over Brackley.

The arrival of Peacock-Farrell now means City have four keepers, including highly-rated, youth-team net-minder Ryan Whitley, on the books, but Gray confirmed that he is not looking to offload any of them and that former Chester and Bradford Park Avenue number one Worsnop would now be taking on more of a background role.

“I’ve had a conversation with Jon regarding what we are looking to do going forward and where I see his future lying,” Gray explained. “He will be coming a bit more this side of the fence in terms of helping me do some coaching with the keepers, because he’s getting to that age in his career.

“But he’s still there in an emergency and, if somebody breaks a finger on a Friday for example, he’ll step up to the plate.”

Peacock-Farrell, meanwhile, will continue to train with Championship outfit Leeds for the first part of the week, before spending Thursday, Friday and matchdays with City and, on his acquisition, Gray added: “He’s highly thought of in the game by people in the goalkeeping world that we’ve spoken to from a very high level.”

Along with David Ferguson, Peacock-Farrell’s arrival means Gray has brought two new faces to North Yorkshire during his first fortnight at the helm, but the former Sunderland midfielder stressed that he is not planning a massive overhaul in personnel.

“We’re not looking to make massive changes,” he reasoned. “The squad we have got is a very good one, but we’ll make small adjustments when we feel the time is right.”

Michael Rankine remains unavailable for training or first-team selection with no diagnosis on his high-blood pressure problem yet, but Alex Whittle is back in contention following a groin strain.

He faces a fight for the left-back spot with Ferguson, although Gray believes both players could be selected in the same side.

“Alex Whittle’s back in the squad and has had a very good week in training,” the City boss declared. “He’s another good player who is available for selection and I’m sure that, over a season, both he and David Ferguson could play in the same team.

“They have a good understanding and are both good footballers who have come from a good level. I’m sure they could both play a bit further forward, although I like my defenders to be judged on clean sheets and limiting the opposition’s shots on our goal.”

Gray added that he is targeting maximum points against Leamington, but will not be taking anything for granted against the modest Midlands outfit who held his Darlington team to a 0-0 draw last month.

“We’ve got to go away and win games because we are York City, but we will still be respectful to the opposition,” the City boss pointed out. “We should have beaten them at our place when I was at Darlington, but I’ve had them watched again and know we can’t under-estimate them.

“They have some very good attacking players in their team and they will have taken a lot of confidence from winning at Salford last weekend. Most clubs at this level go there and are happy to come back with a point, but they’ve had some very good results this season.”

Gray went on to reveal that he had spent his second week in charge familiarising himself with all members of his new squad by spending more time at the Wigginton Road training ground.

“You have to spend time with players to get to know them better, so that means afternoon sessions and more time around the building,” he explained. “I include everybody in that.

“We’ve got two players who won’t be travelling this weekend (Sam Muggleton and Ben Clappison), so we put on an extra little session on with them, because you have to make sure everyone knows they are important.”