YORK City will need to keep their heads clear during Saturday’s vital National League clash at relegation rivals Woking, according to skipper Simon Heslop.

The Minstermen travel to the Kingfield Stadium hovering one place above the drop zone on goal difference and will face a home side, who are just three points and positions better off in the standings with two fixtures left to play.

Heslop, along with Alex Whittle, is one of two City players expected to be on first XI duty in Surrey, who have been on the Bootham Crescent books all season and, on the importance, of not being consumed by the nervous tension surrounding the fixture, the York-born former Huntington School pupil said: “The pressure of the situation we are in means the occasion does not need much building up, so motivation won’t be an issue going there, but we’re just going to try and keep our heads clear and perform well.”

Easter Monday’s 3-1 home defeat at Wrexham guarantees the Minstermen’s fate will be decided on the final weekend of the season when Forest Green, who are now guaranteed a play-off spot, visit Bootham Crescent for a 12.15pm kick off.

Heslop stressed nobody at the club is looking ahead to that fixture, but also insisted that the Minstermen are not perturbed by the prospect of requiring a result against the Gloucestershire team, who lost to already-relegated Southport in their last outing.

“We’re not looking too far ahead to the Forest Green game but, if we need to beat them, we’re confident we can do,” the City captain declared. “For now, though, we’re focussed on Woking.

“We’ll have had a four-day break (after the Wrexham match), which seems like a long time in our schedule at the moment, but it gives us a bit of time to refresh mentally and physically.”

The ex-Wrexham midfielder went on to express his disappointment at the bank-holiday defeat against his old club, but added that the team could not afford to linger on the loss as they remain in control of their own destiny.

“I’m not sure we deserved to lose 3-1 but we could have done better and didn’t play as well as we have done in other games recently,” Heslop reasoned. “It’s disappointing and a tough one to take, because it was a good opportunity to put some distance between ourselves and the bottom four, but we’ve not done it and have to move on after a couple of days of it hurting.

“It’s important not to dwell on the defeat too long. If we win at Woking, we will go above them and we’ve got to keep thinking positive.

“We’ve got a big job to do now in our last two games to make sure we stay in the league. It’s in our own hands because, if we win them both, we’re definitely safe, so that’s a nice position to be in.”

Heslop, meanwhile, suggested that City will need to take their opportunities in a more clinical fashion than he and the team managed against Wrexham, where he missed a golden opportunity to add to his five goals this term.

“I should have definitely hit the target with a massive chance at 1-1 and Amari (Morgan-Smith) had another to get us back to 2-2,” he pointed out.

Hamza Bencherif will return to the City fold at Woking, having been ruled out of facing Wrexham due to the loan terms of his move from the Racecourse Ground.

The French defender had played every minute of the previous 19 games and is in line to return at the expense of Shaun Rooney, who deputised on Monday, with Heslop adding: “When Roons has come into the team recently, he’s done quite well but, obviously, ideally you want everyone to be available for selection for the manager, so I think we did miss Hamza a touch.”