Sidelined York City striker Peter Duffield is banking on new signing Lee Nogan to provide the Minstermen's missing link.

City manager Terry Dolan has secured the services of the Welsh international until the end of the season.

Nogan was due to train with his new team-mates for the first time today.

Duffield, who played with Nogan last season at Darlington when the Quakers just missed out on promotion, believes the 31-year-old is just the type of player City need to arrest their current slide.

"I think he is a good signing for the club," said Duffield.

"He is someone we haven't got at the minute. He is someone who can take the ball on the half-way line, hold it and lay-it off.

"I didn't play that many games with him last season because it was a case of either him or me playing alongside Marco Gabbiadini.

"But when we did play together we always played very well together and we were actually a better partnership in many ways than Marco because he was more of an individual.

"I always thoroughly enjoyed playing with Lee and I thought we played well together."

Duffield, a spectator at Glanford Park on Saturday to watch City crash 4-0 to Scunthorpe, admitted City were desperate for a goal.

The Minstermen have now scored just one goal in eight games and were once again made to pay for missed opportunities against the Iron.

"We need to score and we need to score early," said Duffield, who was today poised to step up his recovery from a broken leg by running on the training pitch.

Updated: 10:44 Monday, February 12, 2001