WITH one unbeaten run ending three days ago, York City boss Terry Dolan has urged his players to start another.

The Minstermen's run of seven matches without defeat, which propelled them to fifth in the table, came to an end away to Rushden & Diamonds on Saturday with an unlucky 2-1 defeat.

But Dolan is asking his players to begin all over again tonight as his side go to arch-rivals Darlington. "We've finished an unbeaten run on Saturday and we have to start another one," said the City chief.

"With 12 games left, hopefully we can pick up enough points to get into the top three or at least into the play-offs.

"I don't think any team in this division can afford to relax at this moment in time apart from maybe Hartlepool. One win can make a big difference. We dropped four places to ninth because we lost on Saturday but it can all change again tonight.

"We were hurt by the result on Saturday and hopefully we can respond with one or three points tonight."

Darlington defied having a man sent off to sneak a draw against champions elect Hartlepool in a hard-fought derby on Saturday.

"You could say this is another derby and I would imagine it will be just as hard with no quarter given - that's usually the case between York and Darlington," said Dolan.

"I keep saying week after week, and people probably get fed up hearing it, that every game is different. There are 11 players trying just as hard as our own players. We've got to make sure we've got the quality to carry on from winning the battle."

Tonight's match will see City once again come up against former Minstermen striker Barry Conlon, but Dolan did not single any Quakers players out for special treatment. "They've got plenty of dangermen but we've got to hope they're worrying more about us," he said.

Updated: 11:28 Tuesday, March 04, 2003