YORK City have taken Harrogate Town forward Sam Jones on loan until the end of the season.

Jones, 28, is a former Welsh Under-21 international and arrives at Bootham Crescent with League football experience under his belt, having played for Grimsby, Shrewsbury and Cheltenham.

He has made six appearances for Harrogate this National League season, scoring once in their 1-1 draw at Maidenhead United, before making three substitute appearances on loan at Solihull Moors.

Minstermen boss Watson says he has been monitoring his progress, and is now optimistic for his future partnerships with York's current strikeforce.

Jones is eligible for the game against Saturday's (3pm) home game against Curzon Ashton subject to FA and National League approval.

He said: "He's somebody I've known and kept an eye on for a long time. He went from Gateshead into the League, to Grimsby and Shrewsbury.

"He's been at Harrogate, where he hasn't had enough football. I saw he hadn't been playing, I got in touch with Harrogate and we were able to do the deal until the end of the season, which I'm delighted about.

"He's replacing Kurt in that it's a man in and a man out but they're quite different in the way they play.

"He is a forward but he's somebody that will come and drop and look after the ball. He manipulates it well.

"That's probably I thought were what we were missing last week.

"Hopefully that's a good addition to go alongside a more off-the-shoulder-striker like Dan and Macca, somebody that runs in behind like Alex, or somebody that holds the ball up like Jordan. I think he'll be a good foil for all of those."

Jones' arrival comes in the wake of Kurt Willoughby's departure from York following his month-long loan from another National League outfit in AFC Fylde.

Though a fruitful loan for York - with Willoughby producing three goals in four games - Watson indicated he was looking for more stability from the next player he brought in.

"Originally it was offered for a month but we've seen what happened with Kurt and that's not something we could really commit to," he said.

"You get to the end of the month and if they did the same thing, it wouldn't give us enough time to replace.

"I'm not saying he'll be the last one to come in but at least we've got somebody we know we can rely on now until the end of the season.

"He's looking forward to it.

"He trained with the boys and he's a very good footballer."