McClaren left a number of his first-team players, including Jack Colback, Daryl Janmaat, Moussa Sissoko and Tim Krul, back on Tyneside.
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The Magpies are also understood to have made a fresh attempt to lure Marseille’s £12m-rated forward Florian Thauvin, while there have been claims that AC Milan have turned down an approach for M’baye Niang.
Reflecting on the York game, McClare said: “It was a good work out”.
After a making a bright start, Newcastle went behind to a 16th minute Anthony Straker goal.
There was nothing fortuitous about York’s second, however, as the trialist sprinted down the right before cutting in and curling a stunning strike past a helpless Darlow.
There was an Ayoze Perez goal 14 minutes from time when he bundled over the line at the back post but York held on to claim a confidence boosting pre-season win over top-flight opposition, which included the likes of Perez, Siem de Jong and Mitrovic.
“We are more or less there”.
“We are still trying to catch our legs and get the jet-lag out of us”.
“I’m like every manager in pre-season, you always have concerns because you never quite know where you’re at”, he added.
“There have been 11 days in the States and a lot of travelling”.
“I’m pleased with the workouts we’ve had and pleased with the attitudes of the players, Saturday will give us a clearer indication of where we are but in the long term I’m very impressed by what we’ve got. I want to win so I am disappointed in that, but we were poor in both boxes, but good in the middle”. There was little change, however, before the end of the half, with York’s former Hartlepool keeper Scott Flinders hardly tested.
What this basically amounts to, is that Saturday against Borussia Monchengladbach will be the first and only time that the new United boss will be able to put his first team out in the right circumstances. Goalkeeping coach Andy Woodman was absent though, and he could well be Crystal Palace-bound.
YORK CITY: Flinders, McCoy, Berrett, McCombe, Summerfield, Oliver, Penn, Straker, Lowe, Winfield, trailist.
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NEWCASTLE (4-2-3-1): Darlow (Elliot 46); Bigirimana, Lascelles, Satka, Ferguson; Abeid, Gouffran; Perez, De Jong, Aarons (Kemen 59), Mitrovic (Suddick 70).
