JOE TAIT and Sean Newton are the most likely candidates for emergency goalkeeping duty at York City.

Caretaker boss Sam Collins’ decision to use outfield players as his five nominated substitutes for the last two games has led to no recognised matchday cover for first-choice net-minder Adam Bartlett.

But the former England C international has revealed which of his team-mates rate themselves between the sticks even though he believes, without any superstitious jinxing, that his suspension and injury record should ensure the situation never arises.

Bartlett, 32, has never been sent off in any of his 521 appearances at National League North, National League and League Two level.

He has also played every minute of the 39 City games since his arrival in North Yorkshire last November.

The last time the Minstermen faithful witnessed outfield players in goal was in January 2011 when Gary Mills’ decision to go without a substitute goalkeeper backfired with terrible consequences during a 5-0 defeat at Luton.

Then skipper Chris Smith initially volunteered his services after Michael Ingham had prevented a goalscoring opportunity when he hauled down Claude Gnapka just outside his penalty box.

Smith’s first contribution was to pick the ball out of his net after Adam Drury’s subsequent free kick deflected in off his haphazardly-assembled wall.

The ex-Tamworth and Mansfield defender’s night did not get much better as he was beaten a further three times before the interval, with fellow centre-back Greg Young taking over for the second half and, arguably, producing his best performance in Minstermen colours to concede just once and keep the score down.

Since the introduction of the double-jeopardy law two years ago, keepers can still be dismissed for preventing a goalscoring opportunity outside their box but, as long as they make a conscious decision to win the ball, they cannot be sent off for the same offence in their 18-yard area when the award of a penalty is deemed sufficient punishment.

That has reduced the level of risk attached to naming an all outfield bench but, should a Luton-type scenario occur for the first time in Bartlett’s 12-year career, he said: “There are a few who quite fancy themselves in goal.

“It would probably come down to a bit of a fight between Sean Newton and Joe Tait, who particularly fancies himself with the gloves on. I know why the manager wants to go without a keeper to give him another option on the bench to change the game and, touch wood, I’ve always been relatively fit and healthy injury wise.

“Changing the way I play to make sure I don’t get sent off has not gone through my mind either. I just play the game how I see it and, touch wood again, I’ve never been sent off in my career, so the management trust that I won’t do anything rash.”

With seven subs permitted in FA Cup ties, 18-year-old shot-stopper Ryan Whitley is expected to take his seat in the dugout against St Ives Town this afternoon.

Whitley is still waiting to make his professional debut, having interested the likes of Manchester City and England youth selectors as an academy hopeful and Bartlett feels that the Minstermen have a genuine prospect on their hands if his understudy dedicates plenty of hours to honing his physique.

“Ryan has huge potential,” Bartlett declared. “He’s a hell of a size for his age and is technically comfortable kicking the ball.

“The advice I’d give him now is that the next two years will be vital and, attitude wise, if he wants to make a career from the game, I’d make sure I was in the gym as much as possible to shape my body and get in the best shape physically. If he does get a run of games, I think a lot of people will be watching him because he ticks a lot of the boxes in terms of what you’d want in a keeper.”

Kallum Griffiths and Adriano Moke, meanwhile, are the joint-winners of The Press Player of the Month award for September.

The pair finished level at the top of the standings after Moke collected the two bonus points available for the contest, having topped our Twitter man-of-the-match poll following last weekend’s 4-2 home win over Guiseley.

Sean Newton, meanwhile, received three points as the Press man of the match with Jordan Burrow (two) and Alex Harris (one) also recognised as our second and third-highest rated performers respectively.

During Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw at Nuneaton, the Press points were given to our man-of-the-match Adam Bartlett (three), Jake Wright (two) and Jon Parkin (one).

Josh Law and Alex Harris shared the two bonus points after receiving the same number of votes in our Twitter poll.

The Press Player of the Year standings: Griffiths 11, Heslop 7, Tait 7, Bartlett 6, Newton 6, Parkin 6, Burrow 4, Penn 4, Wright 4, Langstaff 3, Moke 3, York 3, Ferguson 2, Harris 2, Law 2, Allan 1, McAughtrie 1.

The Press Player of the Month standings for September: Griffiths 7, Moke 7, Burrow 4, Harris 4, Heslop 4, Newton 3, Law 2, Bartlett 1.

The Press Player of the Month standings for October: Bartlett 3, Wright 2, Law 1, Harris 1, Parkin 1.

Goals: Langstaff 4, Parkin 3, Burrow 2, Newton 2, Tait 2, York 2, Ferguson 1, Harris 1, Moke 1, Wright 1.

Assists: Burrow 4, Parkin 3, Ferguson 2, Harris 2, Law 2, Bartlett 1, Griffiths 1, Heslop 1, Langstaff 1, Newton 1, Tait 1.

Discipline: Heslop, Wright both three yellow cards; Bencherif two yellow; Penn one red; Ferguson, Griffiths, Kempster, Langstaff, Law, McAughtrie, Newton, Tait all one yellow.