JOHN ASKEY insisted that his York City side will be "adaptable" in their style of play after taking the role of interim manager.

Askey takes sole charge of York for the first time tomorrow afternoon at home to Kettering Town in the Vanarama National League North.

In the build-up, much has been made of the attractive style of football played by sides formerly managed by Askey.

Former Macclesfield Town midfielder Elliott Durrell told The Press that Askey implemented "Ultimate Football" during the club's National League title win in 2017/18.

While Askey says he hopes to see a similar style of City, he firstly stressed the importance of versatility and selflessness.

“I think sometimes people can misunderstand playing (attractive) football for not working hard," he said.

“I think that if you want to play football, first and foremost you’ve got to, as a team, work really.

"To get people on the ball, you’ve got to be showing and when the opposition have got the ball, you’ve got to work hard to get it back.

“Yes, I like players to play, but you’ve got to have the players to do that. And every game is different, especially in this league because the pitches are different.

"Sometimes you get heavy pitches and you can’t play that way, so we’ve got to be adaptable as well.

“Speaking to someone the other day, they said they went to Kettering and it was an absolute bog.

“There’s no point trying to get the ball down and play then."

The former Shrewsbury Town and Port Vale boss added that implementing his footballing philosophies will also be dependent on the personnel available to him.

"It’s (about) what players you’ve got too," he continued. "There’s no use in me saying ‘We’ve got to play this way,’ if the players don’t suit that.

“We have to adapt with the players that we’ve got until we get the right balance in the team.

“I prefer to try and play, and I think that we’ve got more than enough in this squad to do that.”

The results of Askey's training ground work may be difficult to see after just a week against Kettering. The manager has said his first priority has been to "try and give the team an identity.

"Hopefully what I can bring is organisation and the know-how in this league," he expanded.

“It’s small steps and first of all it starts with hard work on the training ground and an understanding of how we want to play.”

Looking further ahead, Askey admitted that City are now reliant on the performances of AFC Fylde if they are to secure the division's automatic promotion place.

More realistic is a top seven finish and a place in the play-offs, he believes.

“I think we’ll see how the rest of the season goes but the minimum is to get into the play-offs," outlined Askey. "That’s what the players should be looking for.

“We’ve not had a great start but there’s no reason why we can’t win enough games to get in the play-offs.

“In regards to automatic (promotion), it’s now dependent on what the team at the top does.”

But before York can think about the run-in to the end of the season, the Askey era begins with a home fixture against 15th-placed Kettering.

Town have just one win from their last six matches in all competitions, which came against bottom-of-the-table Blyth Spartans.

“I went to watch them against Chorley," said Askey, of a match which Chorley won 3-1 at Victory Park.

"I think we know what to expect, it’s very much long ball, set pieces and long throws.

“We’ve got to match them but not forget to play ourselves."