DAN Parslow has warned against giving “confidence player” Ashley Chambers any encouragement during tonight’s trip to Nuneaton.

The pair were double Wembley winners as York City team-mates in 2012 when the club secured promotion to the Football League and victory in the FA Trophy final.

Chambers memorably scored the equaliser in the 2-1 play-off final victory over Luton under the world-famous arch and, during City’s home contest against Nuneaton back in August, he inspired a late comeback when, as the visitors trailed 3-0 with only a quarter of the game left to play, he won and converted a penalty, scored a second goal and provided an assist for his team’s third.

The Minstermen ended up edging a seven-goal thriller, but Parslow is fully aware of the threat posed by Chambers when he’s on a roll.

“We had a few good years together and had some success,” City’s former Wales under-21 international pointed out. “He’s very sharp and a good finisher, who is a big confidence player and, if Ash is up for it and on a high, he’s tough to play against, but we know his strengths and will be trying to nullify them.”

Anything less than victory at Liberty Way will see City leapfrogged in the National League North table by eighth-placed Chorley - who also have a game in hand - if they take maximum points at 16th-placed Leamington.

Parslow, therefore, realises the significance of tonight’s match to City’s top-seven, play-off hopes , as well as the need to respond after the weekend’s disappointing 2-0 derby defeat to Harrogate Town.

“The fans vented their disappointment on Saturday and maybe that’s been festering for a while,” Parslow reasoned. “But we want to be out of this league as much as they do and don’t go out to perform badly or not fight for the shirt.

“I hope they realise that, but talk is cheap and we’ve got to react now. I think that’s the biggest word for this match – because we’re running out of games now to get many more second chances.”

Parslow also shirked none of the responsibility he felt for the Harrogate defeat, arguing that both goals were gifted to the title challengers.

“It was an even contest but, out of nothing, we found ourselves 2-0 down,” he declared. “They were clinical and we didn’t create enough, but it was the errors that keep cropping up that cost us, because we gifted them both goals and, sometimes, you have to hold your hands up.

“For the first one, we didn’t recover after Barts’ (Adam Bartlett’s) kick. We tried to all get back in position, but their player (Jake Wright) scored from a tough angle.

“I was closing the ball down and half-trying to stop him squaring the ball because, from the angle he was at, I’d have backed Barts to stop a shot, but he struck it so sweet and it’s all about split-second decisions. I also made a wrong one for the second goal.

“At half-time, we thought their big guy (Mark Beck) would come on at some stage and I stuck my hand up to say I would take care of him at set-pieces. I wanted to do a job for the team and we knew he was a handful in the air but, unfortunately, I didn’t get close enough to him and got punished, which cost us a goal.”

Despite the team currently missing injured quintet Jon Parkin, Louis Almond, Alex Kempster, Alex Pattison and Jonny Burn, Parslow insisted that City’s squad is equipped to contend with such a packed treatment room, arguing: “If you have five first-team players injured who would have been out there, some might say we could have been stronger, but the lads who haven’t been playing much have come in and done well and the 11 out there were good enough.”