YORK City chief Terry Dolan was quick to hail his patched-up squad for their backs-to-the-wall effort in securing a 1-1 draw against promotion rivals Wrexham.

With a sickness bug affecting some of the Minstermen squad and other players carrying knocks, City were literally down to the bare bones.

But, having taken an early lead through Darren Edmondson, the Minstermen produced a superb defensive display that was only blotted by Andy Morrell's late equaliser.

But despite seeing Morrell deny his side all three points, Dolan had nothing but praise for his walking wounded.

Dolan said: "The problem was we had four or five players out there this afternoon who weren't fully fit, but we had no-one else, so we had to keep them out there.

"We left Jon Parkin for as long as we could but he is poorly. He has a bad stomach upset, so that is why we brought him off and unfortunately it was his height that was missing and could have been responsible for their goal.

"But I've told the players not to be disappointed as that is a brilliant point. They have got no nearer us in the table and the other teams have dropped points."

He added: "I'm not disappointed with the result, I would have taken a point before the start and the simple fact is we didn't play well enough to win the game.

"We didn't keep possession for long enough, but our defending was absolutely exceptional again and that has got us the point.

"They were strong and we kept giving possession away and for most of the game it was like an old-fashioned attack and defence, but we have hung in there and the never-say-die attitude has come through again."

As well as concerns for Parkin, Dolan admitted he had worries over skipper Chris Brass, striker Anthony Shandran and on-loan 'keeper Michael Ingham during the game.

"Chris got through okay, his hamstring was tight but that didn't stop him," he said. "Anthony Shandran looked very tired and Michael Ingham, who made a couple of good saves, has complained of a stomach upset. Whether there is something going through the club or not I don't know. They all hung on in there and I've tremendous admiration for everyone of them."

However, Dolan was not as happy with the fact Wrexham were allowed to get the chance to snatch a point - claiming the corner leading to the goal should never have been given.

"The corner that led up to it wasn't a corner," he added. "It was a deadball kick as Graham Potter has kicked the ball on to their player's chest and it has gone out, but the referee gave it the other way and we have to accept those things."

Updated: 10:48 Monday, March 24, 2003