NEAL ARDLEY expects a tough challenge tomorrow afternoon against AFC Fylde, should the match go ahead in freezing conditions.

York City will welcome 22nd-placed Fylde to the LNER Community Stadium on Saturday afternoon (3pm), with the Coasters making the trip to North Yorkshire off of the back of two consecutive Vanarama National League wins.

Ardley displayed his respect for Fylde, admitting that he was a fan of the club, and expects City to perform to a high standard if they want to take anything from the contest.

“There has been a slight tweak to what we’re doing because of going against a different shape and different qualities of an opposition, we look at the opposition and think where we can be strong and where they will be strong.

“Fylde don’t play exactly the same way as Dorking, so we’ve got to change for that.

“They’ve changed a little bit in personnel but I wouldn’t say that they’ve changed massively in their style.

“I’m a big fan, I said it before the Dorking game that people say it’s a winnable game but I don’t see it like that.

“I see Fylde as strong, they’re a very, very quick team with lots of pace in both full-backs and their wingers are very quick, we’ve talked about that (Nick) Haughton in the ten spot but they’ve got lots of athleticism.”

Ardley isn’t expecting a similar match to November’s 2-0 victory at Mill Farm for the Minstermen, and declared that no two matches were ever the same.

“We had to play a very smart game away from home with the bodies that we had and the personnel that we had, and we had to put in a very efficient performance.

“No two games are the same, so I’m not going into this thinking that a shape works and that we need personnel, it doesn’t work like that, we’ve got different players now.

“I’ve got a lot of respect, they’ve won their last two home games, Rochdale were a very good team when we played them but Fylde were a far better team on their day.

“As far as I’m concerned we’ve got 19 games left, and we’ve got to get at least 20 points.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve had 20 games and got 27 points so we’ve done okay, but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen because pressure mounts as we get later into the season and the anxiety and the mentality changes.

“Everyone down there is fighting for their lives, we’ve got to keep chipping and if we put pressure on one game then everyone will be down on the floor if it doesn’t go our way. We’ve got to be calculated.

“You look at the qualities they’ve got and I don’t look at the league table, I look at how they’re going to cause us problems and what qualities they’ve got.

“People might ask why they are down at the bottom then, but it’s not for me to say why they are down there, if we let the game become a certain game then they will cause us problems, but if we don’t then we can look at how we can hurt them and where their weaknesses are.

“Every team has certain dynamics, and my job and my staff’s job is to see how teams are organised and how they plan on hurting us, as well as what we can do to hurt them.”

Ardley also admitted his respect for Fylde boss Chris Beech, who has enjoyed a positive start to life with the Coasters.

“He’d just taken over when we played them at their place, but I’ve got a lot of respect for the job that he has done.

2I’ve got a lot of respect for all managers, because until someone has sat in the hotseat, they couldn’t even fathom what being a manager entails.

“I know the challenges that every manager faces and I think that he has got his team right at it.

“They will have a real good go at lifting themselves out of that bottom, and hopefully not at the expense of us.”