FORGOTTEN goal king Alex Mathie is desperate to stand up and be counted in the York City firing line.

The former Ipswich and Newcastle United ace tasted his first action of the season in midweek when he came through 20 minutes of the reserve team's outing at Darlington.

Now Mathie is hoping to draw a line under almost a year of injury worries and get back to doing what he does best - scoring goals.

"It was only 20 minutes but it was good to get through it, as much on the mental side of things," said the 32-year-old, anxious to prove his worth to City fans.

"I'm desperate to get a run in the side obviously," he admitted.

"I'll need a few more games in the reserves before that happens and the boys are doing well just now so that takes the pressure off me a little bit.

"But as long as I can get back to what I think is 'spot-on' then everything should be okay.

"It will take a wee while but as long as I get back injury free hopefully the fans will see what I was like when I first came here."

Mathie admits the City faithful have only seen glimpses of his potential up to now, and that was only in the few weeks following his switch from Dundee United.

"I joined last October, played six games and I thought I played at a reasonable standard," he recalled.

"But then my hamstring problems took hold against Hull and it has been stop-start since then.

"I was never able to keep my fitness up because I wasn't playing.

"It is frustrating because you know you are better than you have been showing.

"Hopefully I can get myself back to that standard of fitness and the team is playing a formation that suits my style of play right now, 4-4-2, and so I am looking forward to it."

It was the hamstring problems that first surfaced against the Tigers back in October last year that have been the cause of Mathie's latest problems.

"It basically just continued on from last season. I was very disappointed because I worked hard during the close-season to get myself fit for the start of the season.

"Obviously, going into the games it is a different standard when you start twisting and turning.

"But I'm back training with the lads now which is good. It is so frustrating being stuck in the physio room all the time."

Updated: 11:19 Saturday, September 15, 2001