ADAM Hinshelwood is weighing up his striking options after York City struggled in their 2-1 defeat against Sutton United.

Despite a debut for striker Josh Stones, York failed to find the net until the 83rd minute, as Dipo Akinyemi tucked away a scrappy goal to halve the deficit, after a Will Davies brace had put Sutton in the driving seat.

Hinshelwood had opted to move National League top scorer Ollie Pearce wide to accommodate the debutant Stones, with Akinyemi on the other wing, in a move which saw Pearce’s opportunities become limited.

The York manager believes that this was due to a lack of quality from the passes into the final third, whilst Hinshelwood did accept that ‘nothing really clicked’ in an attacking aspect for the Minstermen.

Speaking on Stones’ debut, Hinshelwood commented: “He did okay. He was unlucky with the chance that hit the outside of the post, it was just one of those days.

“Nothing really clicked in the final third today but you’ve got to give them huge credit, when you come and play with five defenders then the best teams in the world struggle to break a good, solid defensive unit down.

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“That was going to be the case, and it’s even more difficult when you go two behind because they’re a bit gung-ho and you’re trying to chase the game.

“It plays into their hands, they’ve got something to hold onto so enormous credit to them for getting the three point.

“A large part of that was because of how we started the game.

“He’s [Pearce] probably not got into the game as much as he has had, so yeah, I’ve got to look at that.

“I’ll take full responsibility for that, but it is what it is.

“The passes into the final third were atrocious, every time that we went to hit a long ball in behind, we kept hitting their players.

“The message all week has been to hit space, to hit grass, and we didn’t do that.

“We’ll look back on the game and see where we can improve, there’s lots to improve on.”

Hinshelwood responded to Sutton’s two goal lead by bringing on an abundance of attacking options, with City at one point having Ashley Nathaniel-George, Tyrese Sinclair, Akinyemi, Stones and Pearce on the pitch, as well as Lenell John-Lewis, who replaced Stones in the 72nd minute.

The boss admitted that whilst going so attacking can have its weaknesses, such as being vulnerable at the back, that it is also an ideology that he believes in when it comes to chasing games.

“It’s always going to be my way and it does leave you vulnerable going the other way,” Hinshelwood explained.

“I’ll always try to never give up on a game, that’s never my way and never my intention, I prefer to lose by four or five than by one or two by trying to get us back into the game.

“That’s always going to be my way, and it doesn’t always pan out.

“It’s not through the want of trying to get points or trying to entertain the crowd.”

One concern for York was a late substitute for Callum Howe, who missed his first National League minutes of the season, albeit was just six minutes in stoppage-time.

Howe was replaced by Jeff King, who was sent off during a confrontation in the aftermath of the full-time whistle, with the City captain being forced off through some disgruntlement.

However, Hinshelwood confirmed that there was nothing to fear for Howe, who was just struggling with cramp, and should be back available for tomorrow night's National League showdown at Oldham Athletic (7.45pm).

“It was just a bit of cramp, he’s got through a lot of minutes so hopefully it’s nothing more sinister than that.

“It’s an area of the pitch where we are a little bit light at the moment, so we’re hoping it’s just a bit of cramp and that he’ll be okay for Tuesday.”