IN-FORM striker Peter Duffield reckons York City will face a new kind of pressure as the Minstermen welcome Torquay United to Bootham Crescent tomorrow.

But the ace poacher, who has scored two goals in two games in City's promising start to the new campaign, reckons it is a pressure the team has to get used to.

"We have had two decent results and now we are coming up at home against a team people will be expecting us to beat," he explained.

"The danger is we could fall flat on our faces. A lot of teams who have not been at the top for a long time tend to do that - just when they are showing a bit of form lose a game they expect to win.

"That can be the difference between being a successful team and a struggling team; any team can string a couple of results together but good teams get something from every game even if they are playing brilliantly.

"So the pressure is on us now, a different type of pressure to what we have been used to, and we have got to believe we can handle it and play well."

City go into tomorrow's clash on the back of a six-match unbeaten home run, stretching back to last season.

And Duffield admits turning Bootham Crescent into a fortress to which opposition fear to come is another priority.

"We really want to make Bootham Crescent a place where teams fear to come. As a footballer, you do look at the fixture and pick out places that are always difficult," he explained.

"We want to make Bootham Crescent like that and the fans can play a massive part in that.

"Football has changed over the years in that the crowd used to get the players going. Now it is perhaps the other way round. But the fans really got behind the team on Tuesday night against Shrewsbury and it really did give the lads a massive lift."

Duffield added: "We are a Third Division club at the moment so we are going to make mistakes.

"But as long as we are trying the right things then the fans will appreciate it, as they did on Tuesday when they were tremendous.

"You hear the stick as much as the plaudits but it is a lot easier knowing the fans are behind you - you'll maybe try things when otherwise you would take the safe option."

Should Duffield grab a goal tomorrow he will be the first City player in more than two years to score in three successive matches.

Barry Conlon achieved the feat back in March 2000. Richard Cresswell was the last player prior to Conlon to score three in a row in October 1998.

"It is always nice to get off the mark early because it takes the pressure off a bit," he explained.

"But it will all be forgotten on Saturday if we lose and I don't score.

"It is a big game on Saturday and if we can get another three points then it keeps the momentum going.

"When you are playing well and winning the lads who are out injured or on the bench are desperate to get into the team and those that are in the team are desperate to stay-in. That can only be a good thing for the club."

Graham Potter resumed running in training today after his foot injury suffered when he spilled boiling water at home.

Updated: 12:41 Friday, August 16, 2002