JOHN ASKEY enthused that he was “really pleased” to have extended his stay at York City, a club he feels have “got the possibilities to get into league football.”

It was confirmed last week that Askey had signed a one-year contract extension with York, furthering his stay at the club.

The 57-year-old replaced Steve Watson as manager, initially on an interim basis, in November last year and has since overseen City’s promotion to the Vanarama National League after a five-season absence.

“I’m really pleased, things have gone quite well,” enthused Askey.

“I just want to try and see what I can do. Since I’ve been here, I’ve been made to feel welcome.

“I think it’s a good club that’s got the possibilities to get into league football if we’ve got the backing. It’s a league where a lot of money is thrown at clubs.

“At the moment, we’re punching above our weight, but if we can get more financial help then, over the next two or three years that could give us that little bit of extra lift that enables us to push on and compete to get a spot for league football.”

Askey remained in his post after the takeover of York, led by Glen Henderson, earlier this year and has impressed in the early stages of the season.

When asked if he was confident he would receive backing, and if it was different from his time at Macclesfield Town, Askey replied: “The big difference is the crowd. There’s revenue that comes in. When we played Oldham, the gate was 6,800, so obviously that generates a bit more money.

“Hopefully that and the commercial side, if that can generate money, hopefully that can be what we need.

“A lot of these other clubs are backed by big backers, people putting their hands in their pockets.

“That’s why you’ve got teams like Solihull who are competing at the top, solely because they’re able to attract the players because of the amount of money.

“Time will tell whether York can do that, but whatever finances I get, I’ll try and put a team on the park that can more than compete.”

City will take on Bromley on Tuesday (7.45pm) at the LNER Community Stadium in their first game since their 1-0 win away at Yeovil Town.

They were due to play Dagenham and Redbridge on Saturday but that, along with all football matches in the country, was postponed as a sign of respect to Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away last week.

Bromley were due to travel to Notts County on Saturday but will now just have one long distance away game rather than two.

“Everybody has their own thoughts on whether (the games should have been postponed), but it’s happened now, so we just have to get on with concentrating on the game,” noted Askey.

“It’s not worked in our favour at all, but we’ve just got to be good enough, no matter who we play, we’ve just got to look after ourselves. 

“The players are going to be fresh, so we’ve got no excuse. On the back of the last three results, it’s a game that we’re looking forward to.

“They play in a similar way. One or two changes in personnel, but I don’t expect much difference from the way they go about things. 

“It’s on us to impose ourselves on Bromley and hopefully we can do that.”

York faced Bromley earlier this year in the semi-final of the FA Trophy, when City were still competing in the Vanarama National League North.

The Minstermen opened the scoring early through Kurt Willoughby, but were ultimately beaten 3-1 and failed to reach the final.

“I think it gave us a lift,” reflected Askey. “And gave players confidence that if they try and play if the conditions suit it, which Bromley’s pitch did on that day, they were more than capable of playing at a higher level, let alone the level they were at at the time.

“I think it was a good thing that we lost the game, it enabled us to concentrate just on the league, but on the day we were disappointed because at half-time, we should have gone in three or four up.”