YORK City sentinel Gary Hobson is poised to sit out the next fortnight to cure his thigh injury.

Manager Terry Dolan confirmed to the Evening Press today that the centre-back, who was taken off half-way through last night's North Riding Senior Cup final against Middlesbrough, had suffered a new injury.

"The original strain was in the middle of the thigh. That's okay now, but there's a new strain at the top of the muscle," said Dolan.

"Because it's the start of the season he is keen to play and not miss any games. But he is not doing himself any favours in trying to play on and that's not doing the club any favours.

"So it might be a case of leaving him out for a couple of weeks so that it can be cleared up properly."

Chris Brass and Richard Cooper also suffered cramp but should have fully recovered for Saturday's Division Three trip to Torquay United.

City hotshot Peter Duffield's confidence is on the up following last night's 2-0 defeat against Middlesbrough - despite his glaring miss which could have given the Minstermen a lifeline.

A much-improved second-half display saw Dolan's men battle in vain to claw back a 2-0 half-time deficit against their Premiership opponents.

And although Duffield missed a late chance, firing over from close range with the goal gaping, he has remained happy with his progress as he works his way back to full match fitness having missed nearly a year after breaking his leg.

He is sure that, a soon as his next chance comes along, he will find the net

"It was harder to do what I did than score - but it's better to get them out in games like those rather than League games," said the striker, who played the full 90 minutes.

"When things like that happen you've got to take the positives out of it, and the positive thing was I reacted to it. That might sound ridiculous but I was not slow onto it so the instinct is still there.

"I would rather miss than not get the chance, and if I play on Saturday and get a chance I'm confident of putting it away."

As for his all-round game, he told the Evening Press: "I feel as though I'm getting stronger and the leg is getting stronger, and that's the main thing for me at the moment.

"Because I've been out for so long I'm not there yet but I feel it's coming. I tired up quite a bit in the second half but you do more running against better opposition.

"I feel my touch is coming back and the more games I get the better it will be. I'm looking after myself but there's no substitute for playing matches.

"I want to be playing in the first team, scoring goals and winning games."

Fellow striker Lee Nogan, who came on as a substitute, also missed a golden chance late on as City got on top of the visitors, but boss Terry Dolan was not too downbeat.

"They would have both expected to put them away but they didn't - let's hope those chances go in on Saturday," he told the Evening Press.

Dolan, who changed the formation from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2 at half-time, was happy with the second-half showing, albeit without any reward.

Dolan is now expecting his players to start off at Torquay like they finished last night, rather than again waiting for the second half before upping the tempo. "We've now been in 180 minutes of football (against Rushden and Boro) but only competed for 90 and we need to increase that percentage," he added.

Don't miss Terry's Dolan's Teamtalk column in tomorrow's Evening Press.

Updated: 15:39 Wednesday, August 15, 2001