YORK City striker Emile Sinclair is ready to frighten opposition Sky Bet League Two defences with his speed.

Sinclair, who boasts a personal best 100m time just 0.92 seconds outside of Usain Bolt’s world record, tormented Wimbledon with his sprint play during Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Kingsmeadow.

The 27-year-old attacker teed up Jake Hyde’s equaliser against the Dons with an explosive raid down the right flank.

He then might have got on the scoresheet, himself, with another rapid burst, which took him clear of the home defence early in the second half but, after rounding goalkeeper Joe McDonnell, he failed to find an unguarded net.

Following a frustrating start to the season that saw him only start one league match at Northampton prior to a free transfer switch to City during the January transfer window, Sinclair now feels primed to terrorise opposition teams with his biggest asset.

He said: “At 18, I did the 100m in 10.5 seconds and, as a striker, you have to be a threat. Pace is my attribute and maybe I’ve not used it as much as I should have done in previous matches but I’m feeling a lot fitter now and that’s due to the training I’ve done with the gaffer and (assistant manager) Steve Torpey.

“They have given me time and matches to get fit. I’ve played in League Two before when I was a young player and I go into every game confident because I think my pace can cause defenders a lot of problems.

“I like to get the ball and be direct. Having come from Northampton and gone from not playing to playing, I needed match fitness but I’m feeling sharp again now.

“I am ready to affect games more now than I was when I first came to the club and feel confident taking on players.”

Sinclair shouldered responsibility for defeat at the weekend, however, after his open-goal miss and Wimbledon’s subsequent 90th-minute winner.

“I thought we were definitely the better team against Wimbledon but, when you are at the bottom, things like that last shot at the end go against you,” he added. “That was unlucky but we had the chances to wrap the game up before then to be honest.

“I should have slid the ball past the keeper with my chance before taking it around him and that was a bad decision on my part. If I had scored that, it would have been a different game.

“I think we would have gone on to score three or four and, as much as I thought we were the better team, you have to take chances like that whether you are at the top of the table, in the middle or near the bottom. It was hard to take and I apologised to the boys, but now we’ve got to bury that disappointment and look forward to the next game.”

Sinclair was given his opportunity in London as a 13th-minute substitute for the injured Wes Fletcher, having dropped out of the starting XI for the previous two games – a 0-0 home draw with Exeter and the 3-0 triumph at Cambridge.

With Fletcher sidelined, the ex-Macclesfield and Peterborough forward is now hoping to carry on in attack, where Diego De Girolamo is also a contender after missing last weekend’s trip due to a bout of food poisoning.

“I want to play every game but the Cambridge win was a great result and performance, so you don’t expect to get a start after that, especially after all the forwards had scored,” Sinclair reasoned. “You just have to take your chance when it comes and, apart from the miss, I felt I did do my best to try and stay in the team for the next game.

“If I do, hopefully I can repay everybody for the miss by scoring and helping the team get three points in our next game.”

This Saturday will see 20th-placed City play host to a Carlisle team on the same number of points but one place below Russ Wilcox’s men in the League Two standings.

Sinclair is aware of the importance of the match but reckons the Minstermen can target maximum points from all of their remaining 11 fixtures.

“Carlisle are down there with us but every game until the end of the season is a big one now and, regardless of the opposition, we have just got to focus on ourselves,” he explained. “We have proven against the likes of Southend, Burton and Luton that we are good enough to mix it with the top boys.

“We need to be consistent now and put away our chances because, if we do, we can beat anybody.”