YORK CITY’S players will have the opportunity “right up until the very last minute” to show boss Gary Mills they deserve to be in his starting 11 for the Blue Square Bet Premier kick off.

As the Minstermen conclude their programme of pre-season matches against Bolton Wanderers at Bootham Crescent tomorrow (3pm), the City boss stressed that his decisions about who would make up his 11 at Ebbsfleet on August 13 did not come merely from game performances alone.

“I don’t make assessments of players just in games,” Mills explained, when asked whether the Bolton match provided a final chance for some of his players to impress.

“We have a week of training, we have specific games in training and sessions and I pick players from those sessions as well.

“It is not just a game which decides whether they go into the 11.

“There’s a whole week to work through. Certainly, as much as I have a player in mind who might play, if they have a bad week my mind might change on that. Right up until the very last minute there are opportunities to get into the starting 11.”

Bolton are expected to bring a side of reserve, squad and youth players to York, with their first team entertaining Spanish La Liga side Levante at the Reebok Stadium this evening.

But Mills believes whatever team the Trotters put out at York will be more than capable and he is expecting a performance from his team to give everyone “a lift” ahead of the season’s kick off in eight days time.

He added: “It’s another tough challenge, a Premier League challenge. There will be first team squad players there and it will be a difficult game. We went there in the FA Cup last season and I thought we certainly deserved to come away with something.

“We’ve played Sunderland in pre-season and we were more than a match for them. We need to do the same again tomorrow and show what we are about.

“I want to see a good performance and to give everyone a lift.”