YORK City boss Billy McEwan has instructed his players to reward their home fans with the same level of performance that away supporters have enjoyed so far this season.

The Minstermen return to KitKat Crescent tonight, having started their 2006-07 campaign with a fortunate 0-0 home draw against Exeter City.

Since then, City have recorded back-to-back victories on their travels with impressive displays at Stevenage Borough and Gravesend and Northfleet.

McEwan, though, believes those results will count for little if the Minstermen drop points at home on a regular basis and has used last season's champions Accrington Stanley as an example of what can be achieved with an intimidating record on their own soil.

Stanley only lost two of their 21 league games at Livingstone Road last season and collected 51 points from a possible 63.

It is that level of consistency on home soil that McEwan believes could be the key to Conference success this season.

He said: "Our home form wasn't brilliant last season and, so far, with this team, we have done the business away from home but we dropped points against Exeter. We need to try to make our stadium a fortress.

"Accrington Stanley won promotion with their fantastic home form last season and we have got to do that if we can."

But McEwan is not under-estimating tonight's visitors Burton, who he feels, like Exeter, will provide tough opposition.

He said: "They went to Morecambe on the first day of the season and won, which was a great result for them. They were also beating Oxford 1-0 last Friday but got done by two goals in the last 15 minutes.

"Any side beating Oxford until that stage of the game deserves respect and they have got players like Daryl Clare who can hit us on the break so we will need to be at our best."

City striker Clayton Donaldson, hoping to score in his third successive match, is expected to start tonight's game after a hip problem caused him to be substituted at Gravesend. But McEwan has revealed his team have two injury doubts going into the game, but would not identify the players.

The City boss added: "We have got players bursting for a match and they might get their opportunity now."

McEwan is also hoping to add a new defender to his squad this afternoon and is still on the trail of new strikers, saying: "We had a forward lined up to come in but then the team I was getting him from had a move for a striker they wanted put on ice so it fell through.

"I would still like to get three or four players in before next Thursday's transfer deadline but if we don't get all of them we might need to look into loaning them."

The FA have confirmed, meanwhile, that the bookings received by Nathan Peat and Darren Craddock in pre-season friendlies will have no bearing on suspensions throughout the league season.

Tonight's squads

City (probable): Evans, Craddock, McGurk, Dudgeon, Peat, Convery, Bishop, Panther, Bowey, Farrell, Donaldson. Subs: Reid, Lloyd, Greenwood, Webster, Parslow.

Burton (probable): Poole, Rowett, Tinson, Austin, Webster, Corbett, Stride, Fowler, Ducros, Harrad, Clare. Subs: Gilroy, Hall, Shaw, Henshaw, Holmes.

KICK-OFF: 7.45pm