Aspire to the Spireites will be York City manager Terry Dolan's rallying call to his under-pressure Minstermen tonight.

With table-toppers Chesterfield the visitors to Bootham Crescent City could not have begged for a stiffer task as they look to end a barren run of four successive defeats and just one goal.

But Dolan is looking for his confidence-hit team to rise to the challenge.

He said: "We have got to be prepared for one hell of a game but as a player you should relish games like this because they are top of the League.

"That is where we want to be and yet we are no where near that at this moment in time.

"But for 90 minutes tonight the players have a chance to show they are every bit as good as Chesterfield.

"We lost to them 4-1 at the start of the season. Results since suggest that was maybe a true reflection. I would like to think it wasn't a true reflection and tonight we can show that is the case.

"With supporters' calling for his sacking on Saturday, Dolan pledged to stand firm in the face of mounting fan fury.

He said: "I have seen it before and it is just part of the game today. I am used to it so it doesn't hurt that much.

"It hurts more that we aren't winning matches, which in turn hurts supporters.

"People are unhappy because we haven't won enough games.

"You have got to sit down and look at things in the cold light of day and I know where the problems are and I know where we can put it right but it is not going to happen overnight.

"People are entitled to say what they want with regards to whether they think people are doing the right job.

"I would just like to see people look at the situation themselves in the cold light of day."Okay, we are third from bottom in the League which is not a nice place to be and we are not playing particularly well.

"But there are 20-odd games to go yet and that is how I look at the situation."

Updated: 09:33 Tuesday, January 23, 2001