YORK City boss Colin Walker has defended his decision to play Daniel McBreen as a lone central striker in away fixtures this season.

The Minstermen visit in-form Stevenage tomorrow (3pm) looking for their first away win since the 1-0 opening day victory over Blue Square Premier leaders Crawley.

That represents a run of four matches without a victory on City’s travels and, while Walker was reluctant to reveal his tactics before the Broadhall Way trip, he stressed the 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 formation he has used on the road this term can still prove fruitful.

Walker believes the system’s success depends largely on his wide players’ ability to provide attacking support and admitted that had been prioritised in training this week.

He said: “Nobody was complaining during the first eight games of the season when we were unbeaten, but I understand the way we have tried to play hasn’t got us going forward properly and I’m about to do something about that.

“We’ve lost two in 11 and most of those games we’ve played 4-3-3 even if people tell me it’s 4-5-1. Peter Holmes was used more as an attacker than in midfield at Kidderminster, but we didn’t get Richard Brodie and Simon Russell close enough to Daniel McBreen.

“I’m not saying that’s how we will play tomorrow, but it’s an option when you are up against certain teams. Kidderminster’s midfield and their front two were their biggest threat and I thought we nullified them for long periods.

“We went at them rather than them going at us. We just didn’t get enough support to Dan and I fully understand that. We’ve worked on a lot of things and the players know what we want.”