YORK City’s on-loan striker Rhys Murphy could recover from his rib injury in time to face Worcester City at Bootham Crescent in the FA Trophy on Saturday.

It had been feared that Forest Green forward Murphy had suffered cracked ribs after he was stretchered off during Saturday’s 1-0 National League defeat at Tranmere, but hospital scans have confirmed the damage was limited to bruising, meaning he could make a full recovery in time to make his home debut at the weekend.

Relieved City boss Gary Mills said: “It’s just bruising to Rhys’ ribs so, hopefully, by the end of the week, he will be back in training and I hope it will be one of those injuries that gets easier by the day, because it would be good to have him back for Saturday.”

Murphy’s fellow Forest Green loan recruit Aarran Racine has also recovered from the virus that prevented him from featuring for City at Prenton Park.

He is now expected to feature against National League North Worcester with Murphy and Racine both having been given permission to play in the Trophy by their parent club.

Mills added: “Aarran has trained and he is OK. The back three did well and better at Tranmere, but I brought Aarran in to play and bolster us at the back, so I’ve got a decision to make at the weekend.”

Mills watched the reserves’ 1-0 defeat against Rotherham, meanwhile, at the Minstermen’s Wigginton Road training base.

Eleven players with first-team experience were involved with Mills picking out Luke Woodland, Daniel Nti and Callum Rzonca, who all played out of position, for praise.

On the fixture’s usefulness as an exercise, Mills pointed out: “Everyone need the minutes and the most important thing is to keep the fitness and sharpness up.

“It was a runout and a chance for players who aren’t starting to maybe show me they want to be starting. There were two or three good performances and it was quite a tight match.

“We played people in different areas, which was a bit through necessity, because most of our defenders played on Saturday, but I thought Luke Woodland did well in the middle of the back three and, although they’re not wing backs, Daniel Nti and Callum Rzonca, did well in those positions.”

Mills went on to confirm that Aidan Connolly was not injured, despite taking a knock that saw him withdrawn after 76 minutes of the Central League fixture.

Out-of-favour senior trio Ben Barber, Justin Johnson and Scott Flinders, meanwhile, were not on duty.

Mills explained that keeper Flinders remains a first-team contender, but the other two are surplus to requirements.

“Nothing has changed with Ben Barber and Justin Johnson’s situations,” the City boss explained. “We are still waiting to see if anybody comes in for Ben Barber and Justin Johnson is on loan, so there’s not much we can do on that front.

“Scott Flinders hasn’t been playing, but that doesn’t mean he won’t on Saturday or the following week.”