York City are poised to give youth its fling in tomorrow's Division Three clash with Bristol Rovers.

York-born central defender Lee Grant, who only turned 16 in December, is in the squad for the final home game of the season and will definitely be on the bench.

The Huntington School pupil is currently in his final season with the club's centre of excellence.

This summer he will take up City's offer of a three-year scholarship, taking him to the age of 19 when a decision will be made on whether to offer the highly-prized teenager a professional contract.

"He has been chased by a number of Premiership clubs, but we are delighted that Lee and his parents want to stay here with us at York City," said Dolan.

"We have had to get special permission from his school to allow him to play. He must be the youngest player in the modern era to get into the squad."

Grant will join an already baby-faced City squad for tomorrow's clash with Bristol Rovers.

Against Mansfield the 15-man squad featured nine players - Russ Howarth, Chris Smith, Stuart Wise, Christian Fox, Michael Proctor, Jon Parkin, Leigh Wood, Stephen Brackstone and Levent Yalcin - aged 21 or under.

The youngest player ever to appear in a competitive match for City is Reg Stockill.

Stockill, who went on to play for Arsenal, was 15 years and 281 days when he lined up in City's first Football League match, a 2-0 win over Wigan Borough in 1929, when he also plundered the club's first League goal.

If Grant, who has been allocated squad number 35, gets on tomorrow, he will be 16 years and 107 days - just 191 days older.

In the 1999-2000 term winger Kieran Darlow, who will be released by City at the end of this season, was just 17 years of age when he made his Minstermen debut against Halifax Town.

Grant, who the Evening Press understands has been watched by England scouts in recent months, gets his chance in the squad as skipper Chris Brass must sit out the last two games of the season through suspension.

Updated: 14:53 Monday, April 15, 2002