FORMER York City midfielder Darren Dunning believes there will be no repeat performance of the club’s last visit to Doncaster Rovers when they travel to South Yorkshire in the Capital One Cup tomorrow.

Dunning was a member of the side that lost 3-1 at Rovers’ old Belle Vue ground eight years ago – a result that condemned the visitors to Conference football but secured promotion to League One for the hosts.

Doncaster were on the crest of a wave, while City were coming towards the end of a 20-game run without a win that saw the Bootham Crescent outfit tumble out of the Football League.

This latest encounter, however, comes on the back of City’s historic Wembley double-winning season while Rovers are trying to regroup following relegation from the Championship and Dunning believes the difference in both clubs’ self-belief from April 2004 to now will be massive.

He said: “We went into that match having not won a game since January 10 so our confidence was at an absolute low. We weren’t scoring many goals and were conceding a lot.

“We couldn’t seem to get in front and give ourselves something to hang on to. The same happened at Doncaster because we went 2-0 down very early on.

“The team is different now and York will be going there full of confidence. Everybody will be absolutely buzzing after the two Wembley wins and history shows that promoted teams tend to do well the following season.

“I would not be surprised if York reach the play-offs with the way they are playing and the people that have been brought in.”

One of those new recruits includes Dunning’s former midfield partner Lee Bullock, now in a second spell at the club.

Dunning also played alongside current City skipper Chris Smith during his first stint at Bootham Crescent and the former Blackburn Rovers reserve believes both players can play crucial roles in the return to the Football League.

He added: “Lee is a few years older now but he’s a good player and brings with him a lot of experience from his times with Bradford and Cardiff. That will be very valuable as there will be a few who haven’t played at that level before.

“Chris was always a seven out of ten every week – a Mr Reliable which you need in every team.”

Whereas Bullock left during the season and Smith was released at the end of the ill-fated 2003/4 term, Dunning remained with City for their first two seasons of Conference football.

He said: “Getting relegated at Doncaster was probably the worst feeling I ever had in football and it didn’t just affect the players. It affected the whole community and the people behind the scenes.

“I definitely didn’t think it would take so long to get back in the League at the time. I thought it might be two or three years but we quickly found out how hard it was to get out of the division.”

Dunning, now 31, left City six years ago and played for Harrogate Town and Gainsborough Trinity, while setting up his own plumbing business, before damage to his knee caused him to give up the semi-professional game.

During his first season as Old Malton St Mary’s player-manager, however, he masterminded the York Minster Engineering League double in 2011/12 and also helped the club lift the York FA Saturday Senior Cup.

He intends to carry on “running around for 25 minutes” for another two to three seasons but, despite his successes last term, is undecided on whether he would like to pursue a career in coaching with the badges he passed as a teenager having now expired.

“I will have to think about something soon as I don’t want to still be plumbing when I’m 50,” he said.