THE war may be lost but a battle is still there to be won for buoyant York City boss Terry Dolan.

The Minstermen, unbeaten in their last three games, head to Stoke's Britannia Stadium for tonight's Worthington Cup first round second leg clash on a mission impossible.

The Potters all but booked their place in the second round of the competition with a 5-1 first leg win over City at Bootham Crescent last month.

But while conceding City's hopes of winning by five clear goals were slim to non-existent, a hungry Dolan is anxious York maintain their recent promising form.

With two important home league encounters coming up, against Scunthorpe and Rochdale, within the next seven days, the City chief admitted it is vital his troops' confidence continues to rise.

"The confidence is there now and we are playing some reasonable football and so we want to continue that," said Dolan. "It is the first time I have ever gone into a second leg 5-1 down so it is a little bit different.

"It is a tall order to expect us to win the tie but our first priority is to win the game.

"Even if you include the first half of the first Stoke game, we have played some decent football over the last four games and we would like to continue doing that."

Adding to the feelgood factor, and despite the fact Dolan will be without top scorer Peter Duffield and central defender Gary Hobson tonight, the City boss revealed he expects the York injury list to be just about cleared by the weekend.

Both Duffield (bruised thigh) and Hobson (knee) will sit out tonight's encounter as a precaution, while Chris Fairclough and Craig Skinner are expected to feature for the reserves on Thursday night at Sheffield United after both have recovered from more lengthy injuries.

They will be joined in the reserves by Christian Fox, who missed Saturday's 1-1 draw at Darlington with a hamstring injury, and Scott Jordan, who is to play his first full game as he recovers from a thigh strain.

It means club captain Peter Swan - who is suspended for tonight - is the club's only current long term absentee after undergoing key-hole surgery on a torn knee cartilage.

"Come Friday nearly everybody in the squad will have had some match practice this week," said Dolan, who has yet to name his starting line-up for tonight.

However, he is not short of options with Matt Hocking, Marc Thompson, Colin Alcide and John Williams all in the reckoning.

"If we change the team it gives one or two players the opportunity to show what they can do," said Dolan. "If new faces come in then I will expect them to continue what the players have been doing who have been playing."

Teenage goalkeeper Russ Howarth will also return to the City subs bench after returning from international duty with England Under-18s.

September's City Reds fans' night at Bootham Crescent will take place on Wednesday, September 13, and not tonight due to tonight's Worthington Cup tie.