YORK City boss Billy McEwan will not accept 'tired legs' as an excuse if his team fail to perform against Exeter City tonight.

The Minstermen made the long trip to Devon this morning but McEwan believes they should be fresh after having two full days of rest since Saturday's 2-0 home defeat against Woking.

Yesterday's snowfall led to training being cancelled and McEwan is hoping the players will benefit from their 48 hours of leisure time.

He said: "We won't have done any training before playing Exeter. It's not the best preparation but at least they will be well rested and they won't be able to use tired legs as an excuse.

"Both the training ground and the pitch were out of use yesterday and I didn't want to work indoors as that would have been too heavy on the legs a day before the match. A lot of players also travel in and they were finding it difficult to get here and might have had trouble getting back home.

"It was pointless bringing just three or four players in so I just told them to go down to the gyms near their homes for a bit of a work-out."

Byron Webster is expected to continue in the Minstermen midfield at St James Park having recovered from the knock that saw him replaced by Lev Yalcin on Saturday.

Fellow teenager Sean Davies is also likely to return at left-back at the expense of Shaun Smith after serving his one-match suspension.

Paul D Robinson will continue in attack, starting a third successive match as an out-and-out striker for the first time since August.

The former Newcastle striker caught McEwan's eye in fleeting moments against Woking and the former Rotherham manager is hoping he can now begin to have a greater influence on games.

He said: "Paul Robinson has got potential. You don't do what he's done in the game and lose it all.

"He's got to regenerate his career. In the two games he's played, considering he's been out for a long time, he's shown glimpses of his ability.

"I'm hoping to get more out of him as he gets match fit. We are looking for him and Andy Bishop to form a good partnership although a lot of work needs doing on the training ground on that."

Club captain Steve Davis is still two reserve games short of a first-team return and McEwan said: "He's been a big loss for the club and his height would have been useful against Woking."

Tueday's squads

Exeter v City Nationwide Conference (at St James Park)

Exeter City (probable): Jones, Hiley, Gaia, Sawyer, Jeannin, Afful, Taylor, Ampadu, Moxey, Devine, Flack. Subs: Rice, Todd, Clay, Edwards, Sheldon.

City (probable): Porter, Law, Maloney, Groves, Davies, Donovan, Dunning, Webster, Merris, Bishop, Paul D Robinson. Subs: Stockdale, Yalcin, Paul Robinson, Grant, Smith.

Referee: Roger Vaughan (Somerset).

Kick-off: 7.45pm.

Updated: 10:49 Tuesday, February 22, 2005