Straight-talking Mark Sertori stood firm today in the face of fans' flak but admitted: "We can't blame you".

As confidence-hit City get ready to face table-toppers Chesterfield at Bootham Crescent tonight (7.45pm), he accepted the City faithful had a right to feel aggrieved after Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Macclesfield.

"The fans are getting restless and you can't blame them to be honest," said Sertori.

"I am making no excuses. They have been patient and if we play like that we deserved to get hammered.

"We have to be strong enough and we have got enough experience in the team and a big enough squad to be strong enough.

"We are subdued at bit, we aren't going to be buzzing, but once we get one win that can soon change and we can build on it."

Sertori is aware the City fans were questioning his role as a striker but vowed to carry on regardless.

"The fans seem to give me stick but if I'm playing up there I'm only doing my best for the team," he reasoned.

"If the fans give me stick I will battle on and if the gaffer needs me to play up there then I'll do it.

"What am I supposed to do? I will always give 100 per cent and I can't do anything about the fans.

"I see myself as a centre-half but I feel I can still do it up there.

"I started my career up front along time ago and played up there for about four or five years.

"I'm more of a target man and I thought on Saturday I did okay to be fair.

"I battled well, won a lot of free-kicks, got a lot of ball in the box and worked the channels well."

And while the chips are down at Bootham Crescent, Sertori insists City are not dead and buried.

"No one here is throwing the towel in," he said. "Every team has a bad time and we have just got to turn the corner.

"There are a few teams in it, not just the bottom three. There are five or six above us and there is only five or so points in it."

And while it looks a bad time for City to be playing a Chesterfield side that beat the Minstermen 4-1 back in August and now sit nine points clear at the top of the table, Sertori said a positive result could change the mood.

"We will go out there to win," he said.

"I thought we did really well against them in the first-half at the beginning of the season but then we leaked four of the softest goals you have ever seen.

"To be fair, that has been the story of our season. Teams haven't scored great goals this season, it is human error really and as a team we haven't been strong enough."

Updated: 11:23 Tuesday, January 23, 2001