YORK City boss Billy McEwan is hoping practice really will make perfect for his misfiring attack and defence at St Albans City tomorrow.

The Minstermen manager had to watch his side squander a raft of chances that would have sewn up all three points at home to Cambridge on Tuesday.

Several headers were wasted and at least one one-on-one self-destructed because of poor finishing - and McEwan reckons he knows the cause.

He said: "It's poor play. It's not bad luck - it is poor play. It is poor defending and poor inter-play.

"The way we rectify that is to hit the training ground and practice. We've got to work at it.

"The training ground is very heavy and wet at the moment and we are coming up to our fifth game in 13 or 14 days "We will spend some time on it today and we've done a few things with the ball this week. But the main priority is to keep the players good and fresh for the match."

It's not just the lack of firepower that is drawing a could do better' analysis from the stands with defending also coming under the spotlight.

He added: "We will be working on finishing but we have got to work on our defending too.

"As long as we are creating chances, they are going to go in eventually - we can't keep missing them all the time.

"But if players do, then we can't afford to concede."

The most guilty party on Tuesday night was young winger Martyn Woolford who placed two headers in ex-City keeper Paul Crichton's hands and put a number of other chances high or wide.

But McEwan defended the rising star's nightmare game.

He said: "We've got young Martyn Woolford who has come into the team and he's the one who had the most chances on Tuesday but he has to put that behind him.

"Like I've said before, he's been thrown into the situation much quicker than expected and in general he's done well. He's not got to be too down-hearted."

Tomorrow's trip to St Albans is a first chance for the Minstermen to put right some of the attacking and defending wrongs.

St Albans came up from Nationwide South last year and, although they are struggling on paper and are without a win in the last eight games, McEwan sees them as a force to be reckoned with.

"They are not a bad team no matter what that sequence says," he said. "I saw them play recently and I was impressed with them. They were drawing 0-0 and got a penalty but they missed it and the other team went down the other end and scored.

"They like to play a bit if football, which is encouraging, and it's got the makings of a good game for the neutral."

Tomorrow's squads

St Albans City (probable): Bastock, Batt, Cracknell, Theobald, Simpson, Jackman, Seeby, Davis, Nicolas, Hakim, Benyon. Subs: Martin, Perks, Roddis, Lewis, Hann.

York City (possible): Evans, Peat, Parslow, Foster, Lloyd, Bowey, Panther, Convery, Woolford, Farrell, Donaldson. Subs: Reid, Craddock, Webster, Bishop, McMahon.

KICK-OFF: 3pm

St Albans v City match points

Compiled by David Batters

THIS is the first ever meeting between the clubs.

It Happened on October 14

1967: City went down 1-0 at Bootham Crescent to Bradford City with ex-City ace Paul Aimson scoring the visitors' winner. The attendance was 4,860 and City were bottom of the old Fourth Division without a win in their opening 12 fixtures. Following this defeat, Tom Lockie was dismissed after seven years in charge as manager. He had been at the club since the mid-1930s as player, trainer, coach and then manager.

1972: Phil Burrows and Eddie Rowles scored in a 2-0 home win over Chesterfield in front of 3,489. It was the third successive victory for City who moved out of the bottom four of Division Three (League One).

1995: City were 17th in Division Two (League One) following a 2-1 defeat at Shrewsbury Town. Midfielder Nigel Pepper netted the consolation goal.

2000: A 1-0 reverse at Southend United left City 20th in Division Three (League Two).