YORK City boss Chris Brass and teenage winger Bryan Stewart are both preparing for key roles in Saturday's home match with Hereford United (3pm).

The visitors are expected to employ a 3-5-2 formation, which places greater emphasis on Brass and Stewart to force back Hereford's wing-backs and continue to supply the ammunition for strikers Paul Robinson and Andy Bishop.

Brass played on the right side of midfield against Tamworth and is expected to continue in that role with Kevin Donovan only just resuming training after injury and Gary Pearson suspended for the second match of his three-game ban.

Teenager Stewart is also likely to continue on the left flank after starting both of City's first two Nationwide Conference fixtures with David Merris left on the bench.

City created several scoring chances during the weekend defeat at Aldershot and Tuesday night's 2-0 triumph over Tamworth and Brass is hoping to deliver more crosses from wide positions against the Bulls.

He said: "We are fortunate to have the personnel at the club now who are comfortable with 4-4-2 and I think that formation has shown that it is capable of creating lots of chances. We will continue to stick with it unless a number of reasons like injuries and suspensions mean we can't.

"Against a 3-5-2 that Hereford will be playing, myself and Bryan, if we are playing in the wide positions, will have to double up and be the main supply line to the forwards to give them as many opportunities as they had on Tuesday night. The statistics showed we had nine shots on target against Tamworth and if we carry on getting that amount of chances we will take some.

"We have now got three points on the board, which sets us up for a tough challenge against Hereford. They have been knocking on the door for a few years in the Conference and, although they have made a few changes, Graham Turner is fully aware of what this division is all about and what is needed to get you out of it.

"But it was very, very promising to get a performance like Tuesday night so early in the season and if we go about it in a similar manner we can certainly get a result on our home patch."

Brass also believes his team has a stronger backbone this season with a number of key partnerships being formed in all departments of the pitch.

He said: "As a manager, you always look at the spine of your team and I think we are strong down the middle. Paul Crichton has brought added experience while Steve Davis and Chris Clarke bounced back after a very testing time at Aldershot. Chris was a bit tentative to start with but then gave the level of performance we expect from him.

"Paul Groves and Darren Dunning are improving as a midfield partnership each game and people are now talking about Paul Robinson and Andy Bishop as a strikeforce. Teams will come here and talk about them as a problem and I think if we can keep our spine intact then we have a realistic chance of achieving things this season."

Squads:

City v Hereford United, Nationwide Conference (at Bootham Crescent)

City (probable): Crichton, Law, Davis, Clarke, Smith, Brass, Groves, Dunning, Stewart, Bishop, Robinson. Subs: Porter, Yalcin, Nogan, Arthur, Merris

Hereford United (probable): Gould, Mkandawiri, James, Tretton, Travis, Williams, Pitman, Robinson, Stanley, Brown, Stansfield. Subs from: Scott, Hyde, Mills, Purdie, Smith, Mills.

Referee: Gary Sutton (Lincolnshire)

Kick-off: 3pm

Match points:

City v Hereford United

Hereford made 12 League visits to Bootham Crescent, winning three times.

The biggest of City's eight victories in the series were 4-0 in 1983/84 and 5-1 in 1982/83. The scorers in the former game were Gary Ford (2), Alan Pearce and John Byrne and in the latter Brian Pollard (2), Derek Hood, John MacPhail and an own goal were on target.

Ian Helliwell netted twice in a 4-1 victory over the Bulls in 1988/89.

Hereford last won at York in 1989/90 when they triumphed 2-1 and the only draw between the clubs here was in the first ever meeting in November 1973.

The sides last met at Bootham Crescent on September 15, 1992 when City won 4-2 with goals from John Borthwick (2), Ian Blackstone and Jon McCarthy.

The line-up was: Kiely, McMillan, Hall, Pepper, Stancliffe, Warburton, McCarthy, Borthwick, Barnes, Swann, Blackstone.

Players who have appeared for both clubs include Phil Burrows, Colin Addison, Jim Hinch, Neil Grayson and Steve Spooner.

On August 21, 50 years ago, City started the season with a 6-2 win at Wrexham. Scorers at the Racecourse were Arthur Bottom (3), Norman Wilkinson (2) and Sam McNab.

The side, which included seven newcomers, was: Forgan, Phillips, Howe, Brown, Stewart, Spence, Slatter, Bottom, Wilkinson, McNab, Fenton.

Compiled by David Batters

Updated: 11:08 Friday, August 20, 2004