YORK City interim manager Michael Morton has described winger Maziar Kouhyar as 'quality' after the Afghanistan international made his long-awaited return to action against Eastleigh.

Kouhyar has made two cameos from the bench since returning from a lengthy abductor injury, but returned to the starting eleven in York's 1-0 defeat to Eastleigh.

The 25-year-old almost earned himself an assist, as his teasing cross forced Vincent Harper into a last-ditch challenge to deny Shaq Forde an opener in the first half. 

“It’s good, he’s got the quality." Morton enthused.

"We spoke about it and there’s certain times where we need to play wingers and certain times where we need to play with two forwards, it’s just depending on the system.

"We mapped out the three or four games and what we’re doing, we knew we were going to do the 4-3-3 in this which we then wanted to lead into at the weekend and then we might want to change next week.

“We mapped it out and what we’ve got is how the opposition is going to play, how we want to play against them and we’ve only got a two-day recovery on this one so for us it’s really important on how we want to use the squad.

"It’s slightly different when you’ve got a two-day recovery but it’s good for him to get minutes and we’ve said that players will be coming in and starting and players will be on the bench but we’re going to need everybody."

Squad depth has been a crucial factor for the Minstermen in the past few weeks, with nine matches being played in 33 days.

“It’s been really difficult. 

"Even the times when I’ve been at clubs higher up I can’t remember a time where we’ve played three games in seven days away this far.

"We tried to map it out and it’s difficult, we’re not really going to have much time to do tactical work it’s going to be about making sure we’re feeling good and that’s going to be it.

"But the lads have got the spirits in there and they are used to it, it’s just making sure we feel ready for the next game."

Mark Ellis (heel), Adam Crookes (shoulder), Ethan Ross (concussion) and Alex Hurst (ankle) were all missing from the squad, with Morton providing updates on the injured personnel.

“Mark was feeling it, you could see it in the game later on when he went down the other day, it’s tightening up.

"And it’s the same with Crookesy, he was struggling to sleep that night but this is where we’ve got the squad.

"The players who have stepped in tonight I think they’ve done well. We’re proud of what they’ve done, we’re going to need everybody and we can’t have players who aren’t 100 per cent because we’re going to fight and we need to dig in and get as many points as we can. We can’t do that with players who aren’t 100 per cent.

"So the lads were honest with us, we had that honest chat, but the players who have come in tonight did as well as the lads at the weekend.

“We’re hoping they’ll [Ellis and Crookes] be back this week. [Alex Hurst] took a knock just before the game the other day, he rolled his ankle which was a shame.

"He offers you something slightly different in terms of the wing and gives you a bit of energy.

"I think we all know what Hursty is about, he’s busy and this pitch probably would have suited him today.

"But again, we don’t want to push him and he’s got to make sure the swelling goes down first and hopefully he will be back in a week or two.

“Ethan seems fine. He wasn’t feeling too good for a couple of days so it’s just assessing it.

"Obviously having a concussion twice so close to each other, he’s got to be careful.

"But Ryan [Whitley] has come in tonight and he didn’t have loads to do but I think he did alright. So we need to make sure Rossy rests up.

“Usually they go off for a minimum of 10 to 14 days, depending how bad it is and how they’re recovering in that time.

"I’m not too sure how this one is going to work in terms of two concussions so close to each other and if it is going to be a longer period but it’ll come down to testing him and seeing how he feels over the next couple of weeks."