YORK City boss Terry Dolan has hit out at the decision to end the season on April 20 for the World Cup.

Dolan, who saw today's proposed Division Three against Bristol Rovers called off because of a waterlogged pitch, now has to nurse his squad through a hectic 13 games in seven weeks.

And if further games were to suffer the same fate, City could be forced to play three times a week to clear the backlog.

"If we have any more bad weather and any more games called off I don't know what is going to happen - it is a big concern," said Dolan. "I just can't understand why the season is to finish on April 20 for Third Division clubs.

"I can understand it for the Premier League and players who are likely to go to the World Cup, but I don't think there are going to be too many Third Division players going to the World Cup."

City have already pencilled April 16 in for a rearranged visit of Bristol Rovers, but with this the last free date in the fixture calendar for the Minstermen, they can ill afford any more games falling foul of the weather.

With City not entirely clear of the relegation mire and with key players currently out with injury - including Peter Duffield, Richard Cooper and Neville Stamp - it looks set to be a frenetic time for the Bootham Crescent club.

"We've seven weeks left and 13 games to play, so it doesn't take a mathematician to say it is virtually two games a week," said the City chief.

"There are no spare dates except for the April 16 and if anything else is called off and the season is not extended we could be playing three times in a week.

"That is not ideal when every game is crucial."

However, the Football League have responded by saying the decision to end the season on April 20 is fair - and will not be changed.

A FL spokesman said: "It was not impossible for clubs in the Third Division to have players going to the World Cup.

"There are the two Jamaican lads at Hull, there is Lowe at Rushden and then the Canadian down at Plymouth.

"In fairness to all clubs - the Football League is a competition as a whole remember - the season will end on April 20. Clubs may have to pack in fixtures, but it is the same for everyone.

"It would not have been fair for a club to go into the play-offs missing players who had gone off to the World Cup.

"When these dates for the season were set 18 months or so ago, it wouldn't have been possible to predict these things."

Updated: 11:04 Saturday, March 02, 2002