YORK City boss Steve Watson is working hard to establish partnerships with higher-league clubs right across the county.

Watson believes recruiting young players from Yorkshire teams could prove a rich source of recruitment during his time as City chief, having employed a similar policy with north-east giants Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough when he was Gateshead manager.

Teenage defender Jasper Moon has arrived on work experience at Bootham Crescent from Championship-chasing Barnsley in a deal that was influenced by Watson’s friendship with the Tykes’ goalkeeper-coach John Vaughan.

But Watson is keen to do business with as many clubs from the region as possible, reasoning: “Barnsley are absolutely flying and are a team that aren’t that far from us, but we’re also looking to build as many really good contacts and relationships as we can, so we have a portfolio of players that can help us potentially.

“It’s a no brainer and it makes sense to do that in the Yorkshire area as much as possible, because the majority of players will then live within an hour or so of us. That proximity helps because the players don’t have to move from home and it makes life a bit easier, although there are options to stay in York if they want to.”

Moon has racked up a raft of appearances for Barnsley’s under-23 side this season and Watson isn’t ruling out a senior debut for the 18-year-old as he concludes the campaign with the Minstermen, who will also consider whether he has season-long loan potential with 2019/20 in mind.

“I saw him play a couple of months ago when I was actually looking at their young keeper,” Watson said of his deadline-day move for Moon. “I’m friends with John Vaughan and he has told me they are grooming Jasper for their first team, so I think it’s a really positive thing that we’ve got him in to have a look at him.

“We’re in need of a right-sided centre half and we’re not just planning for the next five games, but for next season and beyond too. He’s here to get some experience and, if he shows me enough this week, we might well see him on Saturday.

“We also looked at getting another player from Barnsley over the line last week but couldn’t quite manage it and we’ve been looking at a midfielder and a forward for a while, but they were important to their clubs for the rest of this season.”