JAKE HYDE might be suffering his longest barren run in a league season for two-and-a-half years but the York City striker remains confident a goal spree is just around the corner.

The 24-year-old forward has failed to net in his last nine outings, which is his worst sequence in a single campaign since March 2012 when he went ten games without netting for Scottish first division side Dundee.

Since then, Hyde has hit double figures in each of the last two campaigns with Barnet and also scored in his first two appearances for City.

He has been in and out of the side, however, since his arrival at Bootham Crescent, but is certain he can get back on the goal trail if he is given a prolonged stint in City’s first XI.

“As a centre-forward, you rely on confidence and the way it’s always worked for me, as soon as I get one goal, I know I will go on to get four or five very quickly,” Hyde insisted. “That comes with a run of games but I believe in my ability.

“I’ve proved it in the past and just need to prove it again. It’s all about momentum.

“You know you will miss a couple of chances but, once you get that first goal, you have the confidence to take the next opportunity. It can all turn around in one game and you can go on a run and never look back.

“I love the feeling of scoring goals but the most important thing at the moment is to win. If I create a chance for somebody else to score and we win 1-0, then I’m just as happy.”

Hyde is hoping to be fit for today’s match at Newport despite a minor calf problem and, with fellow strikers Wes Fletcher and Michael Coulson likely to be sidelined, knows there might be a chance for him.

He said: “Injuries happen. It’s unfortunate but you then have to rely on the strength of your squad and, when you are at a new club, it’s about getting that opportunity to prove yourself and taking it.

“Every minute I get on the pitch, I want to look good and do what I’ve been brought in for - create chances and score goals.”

Hyde’s longest run in the starting line-up this term has lasted three matches.

He has been dropped twice since and lost his place for last weekend’s 0-0 draw against Portsmouth before replacing the injured Fletcher after 43 minutes.

On the stop-start nature of his City career, Hyde added: “Being fit and sharp is a big part of football but I’m not the first player to miss a couple of games.

“I’ve just been working hard in training and I’ve got to show what I’m capable of. If I do get a run of games, I will take my chance with both hands.”

Hyde partnered new loan signing Ryan Brunt against Pompey and, while believing the Bristol Rovers forward could prove a good foil for him, the Maidenhead-born attacker has no real preference in terms of who he plays alongside, saying: “Ryan did well for his first game.

“I felt good and confident up there with him and we had a couple of chances and shots. I thought we passed the ball and linked well.

“It was nice for me to get a good chunk of the game after being disappointed because I wasn’t playing. Ryan is bigger than the rest of us, so he gives us another option and Diego (De Girolamo) will do too.

“Playing with a bigger man who’s good in the air suits me but I’m not really bothered who I play with as long as I am linking up well with them. You try to adjust to whoever your partner is and I thought me and Fletch did quite well together. It’s all about what’s best for the team.” Hyde also now feels at home in City’s favoured 4-4-2 formation, having spent two campaigns as the focal point of a 4-3-3 system at Barnet.

“For the majority of my time at Barnet, I played up front on my own,” Hyde pointed out. “I was down the middle and the wide people would cross the ball for me to attack.

“We play differently here and it’s about adjusting to that and learning the role, which I feel I have done now. I feel comfortable in a 4-4-2 and it’s up to the gaffer to select what he feels are the right players in the right formation.

“He has options now. Everyone wants to play and we have to make his decisions as hard as possible.”

Hyde has expressed a willingness to fill other positions too, having operated on the left flank in a 4-2-3-1 formation at Dagenham last month.

“I’d never played there before,” he confessed. “It was a hard role to adjust to and there was obviously a learning curve element to it.

“I’ve always been the centre-forward who’s in the box trying to get my goals but, if the manager asks you to play there, you try to do everything you can for the team.”

Despite the Minstermen currently sitting fourth-bottom in the Sky Bet League Two standings, Hyde reckons, the club are better equipped to climb away from the lower reaches than the Barnet team he was relegated with in 2013.

“At Barnet, we were young and naive,” he explained. “We played some fantastic football but didn’t know how to see out a game.

“There’s much more experience in this squad. We’ve played more games between us and are much more organised.

“I feel we have all the ingredients to get us out of a sticky situation. I can only see us moving up the table.”