YORK City boss Colin Walker believes the decision to postpone yesterday's FA Trophy replay at Grays Athletic might prove "a blessing in disguise".

The Minstermen could have been without key trio Craig Farrell, Martyn Woolford and Manny Panther for the second round clash and the lunchtime announcement also aborted what was already promising to become a nightmare southbound journey.

Instead, City will enjoy a second day of rest today before focusing on Saturday's Blue Square Premier trip to Altrincham, with the Trophy tie rearranged for next Tuesday (7.45pm).

Walker said: "There was always a chance of it being off with the weather we've been having and we were already two hours behind schedule with traffic problems when we were told it had been called off at Blyth services.

"We wouldn't have got to our hotel until 3.30pm at the earliest instead of 1.30pm and then we would have had to decide whether we could have had our pre-match meal or not.

"There were a lot of problems. We were due to leave at 9am but the coach could not get to KitKat Crescent on time because there was a problem on Boroughbridge Road.

"Some of our lads from the north-east were also late because the A1 was closed and there was always the danger that we might have had more problems later on.

"The postponement might prove a blessing in disguise because it will give Martyn Woolford more time to recover from his illness and Manny Panther also had a slight hamstring problem so he can now rest, while Craig Farrell wasn't going to make the game anyway.

"Even though we would have loved to have played, we have got to take the positives from the situation."


* The funeral of former York City striker Paul Aimson, who died last week at the age of 64, will be held at All Saints' Church in Mudeford, Christchurch, Dorset, on Monday, at 1.15pm.