Cardiff City arrive at Bootham Crescent tomorrow knowing victory will guarantee their promotion back to Division Two at the first attempt.

The Bluebirds could have done it on Easter Monday but were held to a 3-3 draw by current Third Division leaders Chesterfield.

That draw left them still needing two points to go up and so boss Alan Cork will be anxious not to have the celebrations put on hold for a second time.

With the promise of promotion, Cardiff could be backed by anything between 1,000 and 4,000 fans. But because the game is not an all-ticket affair just how many Bluebirds fans will be in attendance is open to debate.

During last Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Darlington, Cardiff were backed by just 500 followers, while for their final away game of the season at Hartlepool all 700 tickets of their allocation were snapped up in record time.

As he plots to seal promotion, Cork has just the kind of forward problems York manager Terry Dolan must dream about.

Top scorer Robert Earnshaw, with 23 goals this season including one in Cardiff's 4-0 triumph over City back in November, is expected to be in the bench.

Earnshaw, a Wales Under-21 international who has attracted the interest of Celtic and Sunderland this season, has lost out to former Reading striker Paul Brayson in recent weeks.

Brayson has bagged 15 goals for the season, including four in his last two starts, and is expected to partner former Rotherham striker Leo Fortune-West in attack.

Centre-backs David Hughes and Scott Young face late fitness tests before Cork unveils his starting 11.

Hughes, a £550,000 buy from Shrewsbury earlier this season, is rated 50-50 with a knee injury while Young missed his first game of the season against Chesterfield with a groin strain.

He returned to training on Wednesday and if he shows no ill-effects will almost certainly return to the side with Daniel Gabbidon moving to right wing-back and Andy Thompson dropping to the bench.

York City (possible): Alan Fettis, Darren Edmondson, Chris Brass, Mike Basham, Mark Bower, Graham Potter, Lee Bullock, Nick Richardson, Richard Cooper, Lee Nogan, Colin Alcide Subs (from): Russ Howarth, Matt Hocking, David McNiven, Scott Emmerson, Gary Hobson Injury news: Peter Duffield (recovering from broken leg), Christian Fox (knee), Wayne Hall (thigh), Steve Agnew (hamstring)

Suspended: None

Cardiff (possible): Carl Muggleton, Andy Thompson, Andy Legg, Daniel Gabbidon, Rees Weston, Matt Brazier, Willie Boland, Mark Bonner, Jason Bowen, Leo Fortune-West, Paul Brayson Subs (from): Robert Earnshaw, David Hughes, Scott Young, Scott McCulloch, Kevin Evans, Martyn Giles, James Collins Injury news: Josh Low (ribs), Gavin Gordon (thigh strain) Suspended: None

Updated: 12:53 Friday, April 20, 2001