JACKIE McNamara has promised a “different” York City side when the crisis club return to Sky Bet League Two action following a welcome fortnight break.

The Minstermen lost 5-1 at home to Accrington Stanley just four days after their 6-0 thrashing at Portsmouth and have equalled a club record of eight consecutive defeats.

That dubious accolade was previously the preserve of struggling sides from 1976 and 1963 but, if this group of players is going to avoid plumbing new depths, they must get some reward from their trip to Bristol Rovers on December 12.

McNamara, meanwhile, has now lost his first six games since succeeding Russ Wilcox at the Bootham Crescent helm but, after the latest humbling, the ex-Dundee United chief reasoned: “I’ve got two weeks to put my stamp on things.

“People have got to win their one-on-one battles and I’m expecting to see a different team at Bristol. I know I’ve got a big job on, but I’m determined to put things right and I believe I can do and the club will kick on.”

McNamara gave debuts to six players against Accrington with Danny Galbraith, Mark Kitching, Jordan Lussey, Stefan O’Connor and Kenny McEvoy all starting and fellow new recruit Bradley Fewster coming off the bench to score City’s consolation.

It proved a difficult afternoon for Lussey at right back and O’Connor, who conceded the 61st-minute penalty that saw Josh Windass score the visitors’ third goal, with McNamara admitting it was a mixed day for his fresh faces, saying: “Some did better than others.

“Offensively, I thought we looked a threat with Kenny McEvoy getting down the side. He started brightly and looks like he will be a great player for us.

“He gave us a lot of pace, likes to be direct and put some good balls in as well. Bradley Fewster also took his goal well after using his pace to get in behind them.

“It was a hard game for him to come into, but he looked lively and was very positive. Mark Kitching did well enough after starting very positively while young Jordan Lussey struggled a bit and Stefan O’Connor did well in parts but looked better and more comfortable when he went to right back.

“Their front two are quite dangerous with their movement and it’s a learning curve for him. The penalty he gave away was clumsy more than anything and I thought he was fouled before their fourth goal but they had other chances to score as well.

“Danny Galbraith has not played since last season so it was asking a lot of him. He will need to get fit and we can get two weeks of hard work into him now.”

McNamara went on to admit unfamiliarity played a part in the heavy loss but, despite five of his new signings aged between 18 and 21 and 17-year-old, youth-team graduate Ben Godfrey also starting, he refused to blame inexperience for the thumping.

“We had experience in previous weeks and didn’t win then,” the City boss argued. “I think we’ll be stronger, though, when we get the right kind of experienced players back like the captain (Russell Penn) and Luke Summerfield, who can talk and organise in the middle of the park.

“I was disappointed with a lot of things defensively (against Accrington) and we looked like a team that had just met each other the day before. I thought it would be asking a lot of the back four with three new players in there because we only had one training session before this match, but I still expected us to do a lot of things better.

“We needed to show greater awareness, talk more and help each other out. There wasn’t a lot of communication, even with simple things like defending throw-ins and short corners.

“We were naive with our decision making at times and brought a lot of the trouble on ourselves by being too soft, but we’ve got two weeks to get to know each other now and there’s a lot to work on.”

Josh Carson, meanwhile, has earned a surprise reprieve from McNamara, who had given the impression that the former Northern Ireland international had little future at Bootham Crescent. After coming off the bench in the second half, Carson set up Fewster for his goal with the City manager adding: “He has to improve his fitness and has a lot to do on that front so we’ll know in two weeks if he’s ready to go and push for a regular place because he has ability.

“He’s got a lot of things he can give us, but he has to be fit enough to get in the team.”