FRUSTRATED York City chief Terry Dolan has pleaded for positive vibes after admitting a negative element is "destroying" the confidence of his players.

The City manager was left bewildered as sections of the home support chose to barrack the Minstermen, despite the fact City safeguarded their Football League status with yesterday's 1-0 win over Oxford United.

The crowd voiced their disapproval as City tried to run down the clock in the final few minutes by keeping the ball in the corners instead of looking to cross.

Dolan made no apologies for the tactic and urged the silent majority to drown out the boo boys.

"I am not getting at all the supporters but there is a small pocket who are destroying the players' confidence," said Dolan.

"They can shout whatever they want at me, that is not a problem, but they have got to encourage the players.

"I want to be positive and I want everybody else to be positive. Unfortunately, there are still some people who purport to support York City who are not as positive as I am.

"We are trying to produce good professional footballers who know when to keep the ball and not give it away.

"Professional football is all about winning games. What would people have said had we crossed the ball into the box and the opposition had broken away in the last minute and equalised?

"To the people who were not happy about the way things were going at the end of the game, we have got a lot of young players here and we are trying to teach them how to become good professional footballers.

"And good professional footballers know when to keep the ball and keep possession - when there is three or four minutes to go and you are 1-0 up.

"If some people do not like that I make no apologies because that is the way it is. That is the way to become a good professional footballer."

Having made safety assured, Dolan was quick to praise the efforts of his players as City recorded their fifth win from their last six outings on home soil.

"I'd rather be talking about the hard work everyone has put in during the season," he said.

"We are not happy we are in the lower reaches of the division and the season has not finished by any means with five games to go.

"But when you think about what we have gone through this season, to be safe with five games still left to play is a credit to all the players and the staff at the football club."

He added: "I'm delighted with the win because we grafted away, kept a clean sheet and got the goal and but for the woodwork it could have been four or five.

"That would have rounded an excellent day off for us. We got the right result, Halifax didn't and we can relax a little bit now."

Dolan revealed central defender Matt Hocking was withdrawn at half-time because of a groin injury while young midfielder Stephen Brackstone was suffering from a tight hamstring.

The City manager is hopeful top-scorer Michael Proctor will be fit for Saturday's trip to Swansea after missing City's last two outings with a hamstring problem.

Updated: 09:02 Tuesday, April 02, 2002