YORK City fans have only 48 hours to get their tickets for Saturday's big Yorkshire derby against Doncaster Rovers - and give the Minstermen's coffers a welcome boost.

The club are expecting one of their biggest crowds of the season on Saturday - at least 5,000 - but have reported only slow sales so far and have therefore sent out a reminder that the Division Three encounter is a ticket-only affair.

As reported by the Press, the Bootham Crescent clash was made all-ticket on the advice of police as Rovers were expected to bring a large travelling contingent of fans.

Those expectations have been vindicated as the high-flying South Yorkshiremen have already sold more than 2,000 of their 3,300 allocation.

However, that is four times as many as City had sold for their sections by yesterday - not including the season ticket-holders - and home fans are urged to book as soon as possible.

City's communications director Sophie McGill said: "We've signed (striker) Gary Browne and this match is on the back of the Barnsley match (in the FA Cup) when the team were performing well.

"It's also an exciting fixture with the return of (former City players) Paul Barnes and Andy Warrington and we urge the fans to get down as soon as possible to purchase their tickets.

"We don't want anybody to be disappointed come Saturday so please remember this is an all-ticket game."

No tickets for the match will be sold on the day of the game so supporters must purchase them from the ticket office at Bootham Crescent (opening hours 9am-5pm Wednesday, Thursday; 9am-4.30pm Friday) or by credit card over the phone on 0870 7771922 ext 1.

Updated: 11:00 Wednesday, November 12, 2003