Leon Constantine’s goalscoring form is making his claims for a regular starting place impossible to ignore, according to York City manager Gary Mills.

The former Leeds United striker spent much of Mills’ first two months in charge at Bootham Crescent on the bench but has featured from the beginning of the last two games and responded with goals in both – his latest effort an equaliser in Saturday’s 2-1 win at Histon.

Having also netted as a substitute at Gateshead on New Year’s Day, Constantine has now hit the target in City’s last three league games and was even preferred in Saturday’s starting line-up to top scorer Michael Rankine, who was available again after missing Tuesday’s 1-0 victory against Grimsby due to illness.

Rankine went on to play a big part at Histon as a second-half substitute after Mills had switched to a 4-4-2 formation and the City chief admitted he was delighted with both players’ contributions, saying: “Leon or Ranks was a big decision for me.

“Ranks trained on Friday after missing Grimsby but I decided to go with Leon. He was superb on Tuesday and every time he plays for me he scores a goal.

“He holds the ball up well and is a striker scoring goals – when you have them, it’s hard to leave them out and he got me another goal. We are getting to know each other more now as player and manager, and he’s a cracking lad.

“Ranks was also a big handful for them when he came on. He made a big difference and battled well.”

Winger Peter Till went on to score City’s spectacular winning goal on 86 minutes after being moved from the right flank on to the left.

It was a perfect response following Mills’ challenge to prove he can produce the goods on a regular basis and the City chief added: “Tilly came in from the left and did superbly well for his goal.

“We had him on the left at Rushden and he did well there. It gives him that chance to cut in and do what he did.

“He knows he has to lift his game and he is. He’s working harder to get the ball back when we lose possession.

“His head’s not going down any more either and he’s showing us what he’s capable of.”

Mills also felt his team answered several questions with their second-half display after going into the interval a goal down following a long-range Jim Stevenson strike.

“Having been here with Tamworth this season, I warned the players about what to expect because they do what they do well,” the Minstermen boss said. “They squeeze the ball and are lively.

“We did not come out of the traps early on and were second best. We deserved to go in 1-0 down and, at half-time, I told the players I was having to ask questions of them for the first time but they came up with the right answers on a difficult pitch against difficult opponents.

“We created quite a few chances, raised the tempo and didn’t give the ball away as much and I’m absolutely delighted with three points.”

Neil Barrett missed his second successive game with a knee injury at Histon while David McGurk was also absent because of illness but is likely to recover for tomorrow’s Blue Square Bet Premier clash at Luton.

The battle-scarred Jonathan Smith will be available too despite suffering a broken nose.

City will need to find a new date for their Blue Square Bet Premier home match against Mansfield. The Stags beat Newport 4-2 in the FA Trophy on Saturday and are through to the third round which will be played on February 5 when they had been scheduled to visit Bootham Crescent.