YORK City manager Gary Mills has admitted his team cannot play any worse during Monday night’s second meeting with AFC Wimbledon in three days.

Mills’ team travelled south on Sunday for Monday's FA Cup first round replay with the Wombles, having been comprehensively beaten 3-0 by the same side during Saturday’s League Two contest at Bootham Crescent.

Commenting on the possible psychological impact of Wimbeldon’s win on the ESPN-televised encounter, Mills said: “It will have given them a lift but I don’t think we can play any worse. If we do, then we are in trouble.”

Mills added that his players have now got to quickly set about the process of erasing the memory of the club’s heaviest league home defeat in more than five years since Billy McEwan’s struggling team were humbled 4-1 by Histon in October 2007.

Having also insisted that Saturday’s result did not stop him enjoying his 51st birthday celebrations at the weekend, Mills said: “Nobody will stop me from smiling.

“Part and parcel of football is losing and, if you can’t handle that, get out of the game but I won’t be doing that. You can’t feel sorry for yourself and you have to look forward to the next game.

“Saturday’s match will be forgotten by January when we’ve hopefully moved up the table and played MK Dons or Cambridge City in the next round of the FA Cup. I have to pick the right team (on Monday night) and get the confidence back into my players.”

On-loan Aldershot forward Alex Rodman will play no part in Monday’s game with his transfer for City having been completed after the date of the original first-round tie.

Mills admitted that the 25-year-old former England 'C' international had a difficult time on his full debut for the club, prior to being replaced just before the hour mark by Jon Challinor at the weekend.

“It was a bad day for him to make his debut,” the City chief said about Rodman’s first outing. “He didn’t really hurt them but then nobody did other than Danny Kearns.

“He was lively and gave us a little something when he got the ball but, other than him, we were poor.”