RELEASED York City club captain Mark Hotte believes Billy McEwan made a mistake leaving him on the sidelines.

Hotte only made 16 starts for the Minstermen last season despite being named skipper when he arrived at KitKat Crescent from North Yorkshire neighbours Scarborough last summer.

The 27-year-old defender missed two months of the season after breaking a bone in his shoulder but feels he was not given a long enough run of games to prove his worth on returning to fitness.

Hotte did begin eight consecutive matches between Boxing Day and the end of January but then only reappeared three times - once as an own-goal scoring substitute at Cambridge - before the end of the season.

The former Oldham Athletic centre-back also points to a little-known statistic to support his case for greater participation.

He said: "The team only lost once when I played alongside David McGurk and I thought we had potential as a pairing. In ten games together, we lost one at Halifax when we absolutely hammered them but lost because of a dodgy penalty and a disallowed Andy Bishop goal.

"I feel that after I broke my shoulder in October I did not get a look in really. We went through a good patch of six wins in February and March but, apart from that, we did not have the form to get in the play-offs.

"We only won one in nine at the end of the season and I did not play in any of them, bar Halifax at home when I felt like a fish out of water because I had been thrown in having not played for a long time. The manager's reason for releasing me was that I did not play enough. My answer to that was - 'you did not play me enough'.

"I got back in the team at Dagenham, for example. We won 2-0 and he took me straight out. How the hell can I get my form back if I'm not given a run of games?

"You can play all the reserve games in the world but, at my age, it's tedious and becomes too easy. You do stuff you shouldn't do and, even though you can get fit in the reserves, it's nothing like playing games and that's why the form went.

"He stuck with what he thought was right and, in the end, the team didn't make the play-offs."

About his decision to release Hotte, McEwan said: "He came and did a job and was a bit unlucky but decisions are made and I have to look for better. I did not have the money to keep him under the budget we have."

Mark's a man on a mission

ANGRY sentinel Mark Hotte is determined to prove Billy McEwan wrong.

He added: "I know I'm a good player and, if he had let me have another run, I might have been able to make a little bit of difference. He did not see that and we didn't see eye to eye.

"In a way, I think it's his own loss because at the beginning of the season, when I was playing, the team started really well. I think I will get somewhere else and, hopefully, there's enough managers that know what I can do.

"Until the end of this season, I had played more games than most footballers so hopefully somebody will take notice. I'm disappointed to be leaving but I'd like to come back with a Conference side or a team from the League above and prove things to myself and him."

Hotte also believes McEwan should have informed certain players earlier of their release and did not feel his input, as captain, was appreciated.

He said: "I'm unhappy with him for not telling all the lads until the last minute because some of them might struggle to get teams now. I also could not understand why I was club captain but not made skipper when I went back into the team.

"I like to offer my opinion and previous managers have wanted my view as captain because they valued an extra opinion. They did not want somebody who just said yes."

Hotte admitted his biggest regret is leaving KitKat Crescent without showing the Minstermen faithful what he is capable of.

He said: "I'm looking forward to a new break although I would have liked to have shown the York supporters what I could do. I captained the team against Scarborough and I got a lot of stick from them because they respected me but I feel that I didn't hit it off with the York fans.

"I would have loved to have captained the team to promotion but, at least, I met a lot of nice lads and good footballers.

"I also came one minute away from captaining Scarborough and York teams to doubles in the derby game in successive seasons and those matches will probably stand out as the highlight of my time at York."

Updated: 10:42 Wednesday, May 24, 2006