Rory McArdle insists City’s new boys are part of the gang despite not getting a look-in on the pitch.

Phil Parkinson has kept faith with the old guard that took them up last season.

Mark Yeates is the only one of the summer recruits to have started in the league so far but he has lost his place over the last month to Kyel Reid.

Raffael De Vita has come off the bench on six occasions, Jason Kennedy has hardly featured even among the substitutes and Matt Taylor was last week sent out to Colchester to get some games under his belt.

Parkinson admitted the consistency of his selection has cost him a couple of loan targets because they can see no way into the team.

But he has praised the positive vibe of the squad players currently on the outside looking in – and McArdle has endorsed his manager’s views.

The defender stressed that the Valley Parade dressing room is a united one and that is a key factor behind City’s impressive form.

McArdle said: “Some clubs bring in ten or 11 a season but this year we’ve only had three or four, so it is the same nucleus of players.

“But the new lads have settled in great. You don’t want them to feel like outcasts or if there are any cliques. That’s not the case here.

“From a personal point of view, I feel I could sit with anyone in the team on the bus or having food and get along fine.

“I’ve been at other clubs where you’ve seen the same old faces sat with each other day in, day out. I’m not a big fan of stuff like that. I don’t think it’s healthy to the team spirit.

“I’m a firm believer that if everyone’s getting on off the pitch, then things will be better on it. There’s a good dressing room here and fair play to the gaffer for keeping it going.”

Meanwhile, City have confirmed that they will not be selling copies of Peter Jackson’s autobiography. A book-signing session planned to take place at the club has also been blocked.

In the book ‘Living with Jacko’, Jackson criticised joint-chairman Mark Lawn in the events leading up to his sudden departure from the City hot-seat in 2011.

Lawn said: “His recollection of how things happened isn’t the same as what the board remembered. We don’t agree with what he has said in certain parts of it.

“But I certainly don’t want to get involved in a slanging match with Peter Jackson. He was a great servant for the club and we appreciate what he has done for us in both his playing and managerial career and wish him well in the future.”

Jackson will be signing copies at Waterstones in Hustlergate on Saturday from midday. The session on Saturday, October 26 – which had been arranged for Valley Parade – will now take place at Tesco on Canal Road.