OUT-OF-CONTRACT striker Macaulay Langstaff is “100 per cent” certain that he still wants to be a York City player next season.

Langstaff has ended the season stronger than any other squad member since returning from a loan spell with Bradford Park Avenue last month, netting five times and claiming four assists in seven outings for his parent club.

The 22-year-old forward will be a free agent after tomorrow’s home match with Telford, but is hoping he to be offered new terms for the 2019/20 campaign, insisting: “I definitely want to be here next season – 100 per cent.

“I’ve enjoyed this season and there’s one more game left. Then, hopefully, I can speak to the gaffer and I can stay here because it’s a great club.”

Following his stint at Bradford, other than one half against Spennymoor when he played in an orthodox front two alongside Jordan Burrow, Langstaff has impressed for City as the left-sided operator in a three-pronged strike force and confesses that he has probably changed his opinion in terms of what he feels is his strongest position on a football field.

“Before I went on loan, I’d have probably said I preferred playing centre-forward, but I’ve gained a lot of confidence playing off the left side for them and York,” he explained. “I’ve been taught a lot about movement inside and playing off the striker or running in behind him, so it’s not really been a case of being out on the left wing, because I’m playing as a striker really.”

Langstaff scored his tenth City goal of the season at Bradford, who he also netted once for, but admitted that he was relieved to be back on target after squandering opportunities in his previous two games.

“I missed a couple of good chances against Spennymoor and Chester and was disappointed with myself,” he declared. “I didn’t think another clear-cut chance was going to come my way at Bradford but, then, Jordan put a great ball through.

“I had a long way to run and my legs started to go but, even though we were winning and it was stoppage time, there was no chance I was going to run into the corner. It was open for me and I thought it was a great chance to go and score and I finished it well, so I was happy.

“The opportunities I missed against Spennymoor were on my left foot, but I managed to get this one on to my right before slotting it in the corner.”

Langstaff also reasoned that the victory over a team he knows well represented progress for his parent club, who were defeated 4-1 by the same opponents at Bootham Crescent in November.

“We fully deserved the win,” he argued. “We were the better team in the first half without creating any clear-cut chances.

“Then, after going 1-0 down, the lads showed great character. They are a good, strong football team and, when I was there, they were very hard to play against, so I knew it would be a tough game and it was a great result.”

With another National League North play-off contender in Telford presenting the final challenge for City this weekend, Langstaff went on to stress the need to end the campaign on a high.

“We’ve shown we can compete with these teams and we want to finish off at Bootham Crescent as strongly as we can,” he added. “The fans will come out in their numbers again and we want to give them three points to finish on a positive.”