YORK City were sweating on the fitness of defenders Scott Jones and Stuart Wise ahead of this afternoon's clash with Boston United at Bootham Crescent (3pm).
Jones was withdrawn at half-time on Saturday feeling unwell as City's unbeaten start to the campaign ended with a 2-1 defeat at Scunthorpe United.
His replacement Wise was on the pitch less than 20 minutes before he was then stretchered off with a head wound following a clash with Iron striker Steve Torpey.
If the duo are ruled-out this afternoon then manager Terry Dolan will be forced into changes at the heart of his defence for the first time this season.
Jon Parkin could be drafted into the back line after scoring three goals while operating as a striker leaving Brazilian Rogerio poised to make his full debut after coming on as a substitute at Glanford Park.
Injuries aside, Dolan may in any case be tempted to make changes at the back after admitting defensive lapses cost City dear against Scunthorpe.
"We weren't good enough defensively," said the City chief.
"If you look at the statistics we had about 12 or 13 attempts on goal and scored one. They had three or four and scored two.
"I'm disappointed because we had the lion's share of the play but our defending in the first-half cost us the game.
"We conceded in the first minute and the last five minutes and it wasn't good enough."
He added: "From an attacking point of view, I haven't got too many complaints because as long as we continue to create chances like that we will continue to score goals.
"We just cannot give goals away like we did in the first-half. If you give two goals away you cannot expect to win too many games."
Dolan was unable to see the incident that left Wise needing stitches but reckoned Torpey, who caught the City defender with his elbow, was lucky to be on the field after an off-the-ball clash with Gary Hobson in the first-half.
"He should have been sent-off - if you kick out at somebody you expect to be sent-off and he wasn't even booked," said the City chief.
Updated: 11:51 Monday, August 26, 2002
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