JAKE Hyde has admitted that working with Deon Burton was an education during the former Jamaican international and Premier League striker's brief stay at York City.

The ex-Derby County and Portsmouth forward has returned to parent club Scunthorpe following the knee injury he suffered during Saturday's 1-1 FA Cup draw against Wimbledon.

As a consequence, Burton was only able to make two loan appearances for the Minstermen.

But Hyde, who was just seven when Burton was playing in the 1998 World Cup finals, feels he has benefitted from the 38-year-old veteran's presence on the pitch in those matches, as well as at the training ground.

He said: "Deon is very good at things that I need to get better at and it has been lovely to learn off someone who has had a great career and played so many games. All the little things he told me and I saw him do help and it's just disappointing he's got his injury.

"He was fantastic to play alongside and he's a great player who we all hope makes a speedy recovery."

Burton's injury, meanwhile, meant Hyde played alongside Wes Fletcher for the majority of Saturday's second half.

That partnership was expected to be a key one this season after Hyde moved from Barnet on a three-year deal in the summer with Fletcher having plundered 13 goals during an injury-hindered season last term.

But further fitness problems for both players and Hyde's spells out of favour have meant they have only started one match as strike partners - September's 3-2 home defeat to Southend.

With loan trio Burton, Ryan Brunt and Diego De Girolamo having all departed, though, Hyde and Fletcher might now get an opportunity to prove their value as a front two.

"Like a lot of people at the club, I feel I could work really well with Fletch," Hyde added. "We get on well on and off the pitch so playing with him is something I would look forward to.

"As with myself, it's also about getting him fit and firing, but I'm sure we can cause defenders problems together."

Hyde has suffered a succession of niggling injuries since his arrival at Bootham Crescent but is now hoping the appointment of fitness coach Darren Simpson, by new City boss Russ Wilcox, will alleviate that problem.

A big part of Simpson's remit is injury prevention with Hyde revealing: "I am in the gym really early on Tuesdays and Thursdays now with the fitness coach and I've got a programme to strengthen some of the weaknesses to try and stop picking up these little injuries that have been killing my season so far.

"That won't happen over night and it's something I will be working on through the whole season but, hopefully, the more minutes I get on the pitch, the sharper and fitter I will get as well."

Hyde never completed a full match under Wilcox's predecessor Nigel Worthington but has lasted the full 90 minutes in two of the five matches since the change in manager and feels he is growing in belief, having scored his first goal in a dozen outings at the weekend.

"The new manager has come in and given me a lot of confidence to do what I'm good at," he explained. "If you have that behind you, it helps massively as a centre-forward, so I thank him for that and, hopefully, I can keep repaying him on the pitch.

"We are trying to play more football which suits my game and, hopefully, I can build on that and get better and better."

Hyde has also been encouraged by team performances under Wilcox with the team now unbeaten in four matches.

"We feel we have a good side and we are building every week," the former England C international reasoned. "There's been a big change under the new manager.

"We are starting to play better football and are looking a more confident side. I think we can be a big threat if we keep going because we have had some good results against good sides.

"We were definitely on top in the second half against Wimbledon on Saturday and had the better chances to win, so it was disappointing we didn't. I had a header that, once I got my head to it, I should have got on target, but it was a very good performance and we're four unbeaten now, so we can only take the positives from that."

Hyde has never gone beyond the first round of the FA Cup as a player but still believes the team have a great chance of winning next Tuesday's replay at Wimbledon to set up an away trip to Wycombe and is hungry to make progress in the competition.

"Every game we've played away under the new manager, we've done really well, so it doesn't matter if we are on the road or at home," Hyde explained of the team's prospects at Kingsmeadow. "It will be a bit of a waste of time if we go down there and lose and we want to be in the next round so will be trying our hardest to do that.

"The FA Cup is a fantastic competition to be a part of and, if we can get through to the third or fourth round, that will be great for the supporters and players because everyone likes a good run in the competition.

It's something I want to do because, if you can get as far as you can, it just gets more and more exciting each round."

Hyde insisted too that the squad do not mind an extra midweek fixture, pointing out: "We are just excited to play games at the moment.

"It doesn't matter if it's in the league or cup because we are playing well. Everyone is looking forward to the matches because everyone is enjoying the better football we are playing."