RYAN JARVIS believes York City must respond better to falling behind.

The Minstermen's 2-0 defeat in Dagenham means the club have, staggeringly, still not won a single match they have trailed in since the 2-1 Conference play-off final victory over Luton in 2012.

A further trawl back to March 2003, meanwhile, uncovers the last occasion City managed to clinch victory from a losing position in a Football League fixture.

That was a 3-1 home triumph over Cambridge United when goals from Jon Parkin, Lee Nogan and Anthony Shandran turned the tables after Izzy Iriekpen had beaten a 22-year-old Michael Ingham on six minutes.

Nigel Worthington's team went down without any answer to Joss Labadie's two goals in Dagenham despite being more than a match for their hosts prior to the opening goal on 35 minutes.

"We were on top, putting balls into the box and probably had more chances in their attacking half but then we let in a poor goal," Jarvis reasoned. "That's only one goal though and you have to go again.

"You just have to pick yourselves up, but I don't know if that's down to belief."

Jarvis earned a recall to the City starting line-up in Essex as a right-sided attacking player in a new-look 4-2-3-1 formation and, despite the final outcome, the former Norwich and Torquay striker insisted that defeat could not be blamed on the tactical switch.

He said: "I thought it worked quite well in the first half. We were getting a lot of the ball down the flanks and there were balls going into the box.

"I wouldn't put the defeat down to the system. It was down to conceding two sloppy goals and not getting on the end of our chances. That's all it boiled down to."

City have shipped 11 goals during the last six games and also failed to net in four of those fixtures with Jarvis admitting the team need to smarten up at both ends of the pitch, explaining: "We are conceding poor goals, which was unlike us last season and it's something we have got to sort out.

"We aren't taking chances either, so it's not looking great at the moment. We're not getting enough people in the box to help Wes Fletcher and Michael Coulson.

"We've got to create more chances but, for me, it's about what's happening in both boxes. Otherwise, there wasn't a lot in Saturday's game but, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether it's a tight game or not."

Nor does the Fakenham-born 28-year-old feel the team can rely on another post-Christmas surge to kick-start their season, having risen from third bottom at the turn of 2014 to secure a play-off place last term.

"We started like this last year and turned it around but we don't want to be like that again," he confessed. "We want to sort it out quicker."

Jarvis made only his fourth League start this calendar year following injury and fitness problems but is now hoping to retain his first XI place for Saturday's home game with Portsmouth.

"I had a good idea during the days before the game that it would be either me or Lindon (Meikle) playing and I enjoyed it," Jarvis said of his recall. "I was told my job was to put balls into the box and that's what I did, especially in the first half anyway.

"I thought I was all right. I can do better, but I felt really good up until about 80 minutes when I got a bit of cramp, so I hope I've done enough to stay in the team. If not, I will keep working hard and that's what all of us have to keep doing."

Jarvis also explained his two-goal blast last week in a 3-2 reserve win against a team of Loughborough students proved ideal preparation for his first-team return at Dagenham.

"Playing that game massively helped me," he said. "We've been needing matches like that because, if you don't play, you don't get match fit."

Having witnessed angry scenes from away supporters at Dagenham, Jarvis has assured City followers, meanwhile, the players are determined to halt a run of form that has seen the team win just one of their last 15 games - at ten-man Stevenage.

"If you're a fan and you've travelled to a game and seen your team get beaten, then the frustration is understandable," he pointed out. "It's not like we aren't giving our all though.

"All the lads were fuming after the game and they were tired after giving it everything. We are trying our hardest, but it's just not happening."