FORMER York City hero Matty Blair will not be fit to face his old club tomorrow but two other Bootham Crescent old boys Malvind Benning and Chris Bearsdley could feature.

Blair was only three games into his Mansfield Town career, following a January transfer window move from Fleetwood, when he suffered a serious knee injury during a 2-1 defeat at Carlisle.

He has since returned to training and signed a new deal with the Stags but is not expected to make a playing comeback until the end of next month.

But the 26-year-old winger, who scored in both of the Minstermen's famous 2012 Wembley triumphs as well as getting the winning goals in the respective Conference and FA Trophy semi-final ties, will be watching from the Bootham Crescent stands.

Benning, who made nine appearances for City last term following a loan move from Walsall, looks certain to start having kicked off all five of the Nottinghamshire sides's opening fixtures, including a goalscoring debut during the 1-1 home draw with Carlisle.

Striker Beardsley, whose City career was limited to eight outings back in 2007, is more likely to be on the bench, having only made the first XI twice since his summer switch from Stevenage and having been an unused substitute during Saturday's 1-1 home draw against Oxford.

Aside from Blair, Mansfield manager Adam Murray will also be missing fellow long-term casualty Luke Jones with the 28-year-old defender having not played a competitive match since returning to the club a year ago due to an Achilles injury.

But goalkeeper Scott Shearer could return to the fold, having missed the last three matches with a badly-infected leg, thought to have been caused by an insect bite during the 4-1 Capital One Cup defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.

He is unlikely, however, to dislodge veteran, 40-year-old and Burnley's former Premier League shot-stopper Brian Jensen.

Skipper Nicky Hunt, meanwhile, has recovered from the virus that saw him substituted at the weekend with dizziness and dehydration but 20-year-old striker James Alabi will not figure having moved to Ipswich.

Mansfield ended a run of six away defeats on the trot with a surprise 2-0 triumph at Notts County two weeks ago, but have since been beaten on their travels again, going down 1-0 at Accrington.

That victory over their neighbours is the Stags' only win from their last eight matches, including the tail-end of last season, although 15 players have been added to the squad since then,

Centre-back Ryan Tafazolli tops this term's early goal charts with two, while Matt Green is yet to net in three matches since his return to the club following a two-year spell at Birmingham.

Green last scored in a league fixture back in August 2013.

Having received 13 bookings in their last two fixtures, a representative from the Referees' Association has also visited Field Mill to discuss the club's conduct this week.

Mansfield (probable): Jensen, Hunt, Pearce, Tafazolli, Benning, Lambe, Chapman, Rose, Clements, Westcarr, Green.