YORK City boss Steve Watson is a fan of the three Gateshead players he lost to his new club last summer.

Current City skipper and top-scorer Jordan Burrow, fellow striker Macaulay Langstaff and winger Wes York were all in the Heed’s ranks under Watson last term but moved on to North Yorkshire at the end of the campaign.

Burrow established himself as a mainstay of the City team under Watson’s predecessor Sam Collins, while Langstaff has been in and out of the side and York used sparingly but, offering his assessment of the trio’s talents, the new Bootham Crescent chief said: “I like them all and, if (City sporting director) Dave (Penney) had not been so sharp over the summer, I might have been able to talk them into staying at Gateshead.

“Wes has great attributes and a great attitude. He did well for me in a number of positions, particularly at wing-back for a spell.

“Macaulay got better and better as the campaign went on and would probably have played more of a part this season as we went with youth and Jordan is a manager’s dream really, because you always know what you will get with him every day on the training field and out on the pitch.”

Watson added that he will, otherwise, be looking to make assessments on the rest of his squad during the matches against title hopefuls Stockport and Chorley over the next two weekends.

“We need results immediately if we’re going to climb the table, but the first two or three games might be a work in progress,” he reasoned. “I’ve asked Dave (Penney) about players’ best positions, but I’m also looking at as much DVD footage of our games as possible too and will be making judgements from what I see in games and during training.

“Training is rarely poor wherever you are, though, and, while that’s how it has to be obviously, I don’t want training ground players. They have to be able to transfer that to games on Saturday afternoons.”

Having been confirmed as City’s new boss last Thursday, meanwhile, Watson took the opportunity to scout this weekend’s hosts Stockport in their 5-0 FA Trophy triumph over Truro on Saturday.

County have emerged as strong promotion candidates in recent weeks, but Watson is hopeful that he can devise a game-plan designed to gain a positive result at Edgeley Park even though City have lost their last seven league games on the road.

“I watched Stockport at the weekend, so I’ve got a good idea of what we need to do to compete with them and beat them,” Watson claimed. “Truro weren’t fantastic on the day, but I feel I saw enough to put something in place to help us get a good result.”

Watson added that he has a preferred formation, with Gateshead often lining up 3-5-2 under his stewardship, but he accepts it might take time and the right personnel to implement that system at a club that has been operating with a flat back four and lone central striker in recent weeks.

The new City chief is committed to playing an attractive brand of football, though, reasoning: “I believe the style we have been playing at Gateshead brings results, so we might change system here, but I’ll have to see if, and when, we can do that with the current squad.

“At Gateshead, we’ve been beaten by the better teams in the league this season but, outside of those clubs, I believe we were one of the best footballing teams in the division and I feel we can look to do the same here.”

On his working relationship with assistant Micky Cummins, who has followed him to North Yorkshire, Watson added: “We got on well with each other straight away when I went to Gateshead. He’s loyal, but we don’t always think the same way and that’s exactly what a manager needs.

“He’s a very good coach and probably deserves to coach a bit more than I allow him to, but I know I can leave the team with him and they will be in good hands.”