YORK City first-team coach Kingsley James has insisted that “there is no underestimating anyone in this league” ahead of York’s clash with Maidenhead United.

City travel to York Road on Saturday (3pm) for their fifth game of the Vanarama National League season.

The Minstermen will seek to bounce back from their 1-0 loss to Eastleigh at the LNER Community Stadium in their latest outing.

United have started the season with two wins and two draws, currently sitting two points ahead of the Minstermen in the table.

The Magpies have made themselves an established National League side since their promotion to the fifth tier in 2017 and make good use of home advantage in their games.

When asked if he has had to make sure there is no underestimation, James replied: “Absolutely, there’s no underestimating anyone in this league. It’s a hard place to go to and they’ve got good quality.

“People can look at them and think they’re punching above their weight but they’ve got good players.

“Dan Sparkes has been at this level for the majority of his career and been a very good player at this level. Sam Barratt on the right is a very good footballer. For me, they’re not punching above their weight. They’ve got a good team and good players throughout their squad.

“(We) absolutely (can) not underestimate them, we know it’s going to be a difficult game and we know we’ll have to be at our best to win.

He continued: “(It will be) very tough, very tough. I’ve played against the manager’s (Alan Devonshire) teams numerous times and it’s always a tough game, they’re always going to be hard working and relentless in what they’re doing.

“We’re expecting a tough battle and we have to more than match that, which we didn’t do against Eastleigh unfortunately.”