YORK City manager Gary Mills has warned his players they may need to be patient during this afternoon’s home match with bottom-of-the-table Alfreton Town (3pm).

The Minstermen return to Bootham Crescent after taking four points from a possible six during impressive outings at Kettering and Fleetwood.

City beat the Poppies 5-1 before fighting out a keenly-contested 0-0 draw at Fleetwoood on Friday night.

The results served as a perfect response to City’s 1-0 defeat to Telford in their last home match when the visitors scored the winning goal on 86 minutes following their first on-target shot of the game.

Mills, a former Alfreton manager, believes today’s opponents are likely to adopt a similarly defensive approach to Telford, saying: “We’re at home and they will work hard to stop us playing.

“We’ve got to make sure we pass and move well and create chances.

“If we need to wait until the 92nd minute though before we get the winning goal, then we need to be ready for that.”

Third-placed City will be called into one enforced change with the Republic of Ireland’s FA refusing to release Lanre Oyebanjo for the fixture despite their under-21 home international against Hungary not taking place until Thursday.

New signing Jon Challinor could also make his full debut after featuring as a second-half substitute at Fleetwood.

Mills added: “We’ve got Lanre missing but Dan Parslow will come in and do a fantastic job.

“We’ve had a lot of games and we’ll have to wait and see whether we make any other changes.”

The Minstermen chief is also hoping for a big Bank Holiday crowd, having been thrilled by the support on Friday night.

He said: “The fans were vocal from the word go at Fleetwood. I could even hear the noise from the dressing room before the match.”

Alfreton, who lost 4-1 at home to Wrexham on Saturday, are still searching for their first win of the season, having collected only two points from a possible 15.

The Reds have also shipped more goals than any other side in the division with 14 conceded.

Ex-City midfielder Levi Mackin is expected to line up for the visitors this afternoon, but another former Minsterman, Greg Young, has not figured since being dropped from the starting line-up following a 6-1 home defeat to Forest Green.

Strikers Anthony Wilson and Nathan Arnold also remain sidelined by broken foot injuries, while manager Nicky Law’s son Josh has a groin problem.

Wrexham’s win over Alfreton moved them to the top of the table on goal difference, ahead of Gateshead who beat Barrow 2-1 thanks to a brace from the league’s top scorer Jon Shaw.

The Minstermen are three points behind the top two on ten points.

Fourth-placed Kidderminster Harriers were 2-0 victors at home to Southport on Saturday, while Tamworth moved into fifth with a 2-0 success at Bath City.