YORK City boss Billy McEwan enthused about the strength of his squad after Saturday's thumping 4-0 victory at Altrincham.

New striker Richard Brodie netted within two minutes of climbing off the bench on his professional debut and he later created a goal for fellow substitute Martyn Woolford, completing a comprehensive win after first-half efforts from midfielders Neal Bishop and Steve Bowey.

The impact of his replacements, supplemented by the fact that Nathan Peat, Ross Greenwood and on-loan Hartlepool winger Michael Maidens could not even earn a place on the bench and Mark Convery is still to return from injury, left McEwan purring over his current selection options.

He said: "When I first came here two years ago we were picking players because there was nobody else to play but now we have got good players who cannot even get on the bench and that strength in depth should see us through until the end of the season. The game was a great team performance, but it's not all about the 11 players out on the field.

"The strength of our squad means there can be no room for complacency."

McEwan was under-stated in his assessment of Brodie's excellent start to his City career but admitted he was pleased with the 6ft 3in striker's contribution.

Said the City boss: "He's a young lad who's got a lot to learn but he's got potential.

"He's been playing against men for the last two years and is a tough cookie who can handle himself."

The Minstermen were unfortunate not to win by a bigger margin with Clayton Donaldson and on-loan West Brom forward Rob Elvins both missing excellent chances.

Donaldson also received some forceful treatment from the home defence in his first game since serving a three-match suspension and securing a summer move to Hibernian and McEwan was contemplating withdrawing him from tomorrow night's England National Game XI friendly in Northern Ireland.

The City boss said: "We will try and pull him out of the Ireland game because he got kicked all over the place and I don't think it's right that we should send him there.

"He got targeted and was marked very tight and closely but you are going to get that and you need to be strong and win your individual battles.

"He was also rusty because he's not played football for three weeks.

If he was razor-sharp he could have had four goals himself and I lost count of the number of one-on-ones we had. We scored four goals but we could have possibly had ten on another day."