SIDELINED Chris Brass admitted preparations for York City's 'biggest game of the season' had been far from ideal.

Brass agreed with manager Terry Dolan that a five-hour wait to sign some legal paperwork had prevented the players from focusing on the impending game.

Club captain Brass, who is currently recovering from a broken cheekbone, was unable to divulge any more details about what happened on Tuesday.

But he declared: "The manager is wanting us to prepare for, in my opinion, the biggest game of the season but the players are sat in a room for five hours doing nothing when they should be at home relaxing and getting their minds on the game.

"I think it showed a little bit. I don't think we were at the races as much as we have been.

"We are not looking for excuses. But the fans need to know of the difficult circumstances. When something like this happens it is going to be at the back of your mind.

"We are trying to be professional both on the pitch and off it, but this is not being very professional and we just feel we are being messed around a bit."

Updated: 11:46 Thursday, January 02, 2003