IAIN DUNN believes that York City fans need to show patience towards a squad full of potential.

Multiple positive coronavirus tests in the York camp have resulted in a stop-start season.

City have managed just 12 games so far in the Vanarama National League North, five fewer than leaders Gloucester City, whom they sit a dozen points behind.

Manager Steve Watson assembled a new-look squad in the summer and Dunn believes that a consistent run of games is needed to see the Minstermen at their very best.

“I’m really excited,” former City striker Dunn said of the current group. “And this is why I feel so sorry for the management and the players, because there is a lot of potential in this team.

“The manager has had to chop and change it and I still think that we look better than we were last season, where we were top of the league for large portions of it.

“It look like when it gels, it’s going to be really good. But, they need that consistency of games to come at them thick and fast without injuries or interruptions, which seems like utopia at the moment.

“It does get boring us keeping saying, ‘This is a new side’, but in terms of matches and training time together, it is.

“Players like (Jack) Redshaw and (Harry) Bunn are the type of players that we haven’t seen at City for a long time - players that can flip a game on its head.

“They can unlock the door from almost nothing - they’re always foraging and they always want the ball.

“They look like the type of players where, when it’s tight, they can produce something.

“I think, given a run of games together that threesome up front with (Jake) Cassidy could prove to be dangerous.

“I think the manager’s got a really good team, but it’s just got to gel and we’ve got to be patient.”

With five matches in hand on the top-of-the-table Gloucester, matters remain in York’s hands. But at the same time, having to play catch-up at the back end of a season so prone to postponements amid the pandemic may prove to be a tough ask.

“Points-wise we are a fair way behind and you’d rather have the points in the bag, but on the flip-side, destiny is in York’s hands because they know exactly what they’ve got to do,” added Dunn.

“Each new game is another chance to chip along and to get three points, regardless of where you are in the league.

“At the moment, they’ve got more opportunities than the other teams.”

Dunn has worked as a summariser on York City matches for BBC Radio York since 2017.

The role has taken a very different turn this season with the majority of City’s matches taking place without a crowd.

“I love the opportunity that Radio York have given me to go and watch the games and to talk about it,” enthused Dunn.

“(Matches) behind closed doors have been testing because it’s hard to create that atmosphere when there’s no one there.

“It’s a radio show that people want to listen to to feel like they’re at a game, so it does fall on us to create some sort of an atmosphere as well as trying to be sensible about what we’re saying.

“Even when there were about 400 fans for a couple of the games, the difference for us was brilliant because you felt a bit of an atmosphere and it felt like we were getting somewhere nearer to a proper football match.”