DANIEL Nti has put himself in a strong position to survive the anticipated York City cull.

The former Worcester City winger, who arrived at Bootham Crescent over the summer, had only completed 90 minutes once prior to Gary Mills’ return as Minstermen chief four games ago.

But he has stayed on the pitch for the full duration of two fixtures under Mills and scored his first goal of the season during Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Sutton.

Nti had previously failed to net or provide an assist in any of his previous 13 outings and had only retained his place in a starting XI once during back-to-back home games against Tranmere and Dover in mid-September, with nine of his appearances coming off the bench.

But Mills, who is running the rule over his squad as he prepares to decide which players he would like to take the club forward, has admitted that Nti has caught his eye.

“I thought Danny was excellent against Sutton,” the City boss said. “He held the ball up, while winning a few headers and taking his goal brilliantly.

“I like him. He works hard and will get better.

“He’s got energy and understands when to drop back in and when to step forward.”

With City having no game this weekend due to their FA Cup fourth-qualifying round defeat at Curzon Ashton, Mills is expected to use the next fortnight to continue the squad-trimming negotiations that started last week with the departure of Fraser Murdoch.

The former double-Wembley winning boss has used 22 different players during his first four games back at the helm, including all three goalkeepers due to injuries.

Skipper Simon Heslop and left-back Alex Whittle are the only players to have completed every minute of Mills’ new regime.

Centre-back Jack Higgins has started each game, but been substituted twice.

Along with an injured Aidan Connolly, the only players not to have featured under Mills are Ben Barber, Justin Johnson and Josh Robinson, in addition to young rookies Sam Fielding, Tyler Walton, Charlie Wardle and Nick Kennedy.