YORK City boss Neal Ardley is seeking a level of consistency in his side’s performances following Saturday’s victory at AFC Fylde.
The Minstermen take on Chester in their Emirates FA Cup First Round replay at the LNER Community Stadium tomorrow evening (7:45pm), following the sides’ goalless draw earlier this month.
Both extra time and penalties are on the cards if the sides remain locked after full time, with the opportunity to host Sky Bet League One outfit Wigan Athletic in the Second Round the prize.
Whilst City have the stronger squad on paper and ply their trade a division higher than their opponents, their first tie proved to be a cagey and tight affair, and Ardley has warned his players to expect another tough evening under the lights at the LNER.
A comfortable 2-0 victory at AFC Fylde has set the Minstermen up for the clash with a renewed confidence, but it is a level of consistency that the City boss is most keen to see.
“I’m still at that stage where I want the boys to put performances consistently in,” Ardley admitted.
“At the moment, it’s to show Chester the utmost respect and don’t expect anything other than an incredibly tough game, and we have to try and find a way to win the game.
“We’ll certainly try and be positive and take the confidence in from Saturday and try and put that into our play, but just because we’ve, not nullified them, but we had a tight game at their place, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to come home and have a different game.”
Though the FA Cup presents a different challenge from the National League, Ardley is pushing the magic of the competition to the back of his mind and is taking things one game at a time in his efforts to create a winning mentality at the club.
“Whether it’s the FA Cup or not, I’m all about trying to build some momentum,” he continued.
“So for me as the manager, whether it’s the FA Cup or it’s the league, it’s immaterial. It just means that I’ve got 20 players to have in the squad instead of 16.
“I’m just trying to back up one win with another and almost challenge the players to say ‘you’re starting to run harder now, you’re starting to do the mucky stuff that keeps clean sheets or gives yourself a chance of keeping it, can you show me that you can do it again and again’.
“Regardless of the competition, it’s all about trying to build those habits.
“Both teams will be giving it everything, the FA Cup is a magical competition.
“But we’ve just got to try and back up what we’ve done better in the last few games.”
Despite City keeping a clean sheet in the club’s first tie, Ardley admits that whilst he can try his utmost to prepare his side, he is confident that they have the quality to beat anyone on their day.
“I think that both teams were maybe trying to find out a bit about where the land lay with each other in the first game,” he reflected.
“I think that we were trying to make sure that their system – they were playing a diamond at the time - you’ve got to make sure that you don’t get it wrong because if you get it wrong, it can feel like you’re playing more players on the pitch.
“I think that we did that quite well and we switched the play well, then they changed to a 3-5-2 in the second half, so there’s questions about whether they’ll come out and say ‘we’ll go this way, we’ll go that way, or we’ll stick with what’s brought us success’.
“There’s all these things, but all I can do is prepare my team.
“But if we get the hard yards in, we run and fight for each other and have a bit of team spirit and we show our qualities with pace, then when the opportunities come, we’ll give anyone a game.”
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