Oli Johnson in line for first York City start

12:00pm Tuesday 9th October 2012 in Sport Photograph of the Author By Dave Flett, Sports reporter

Striker Oli Johnson is in line for his first York City start tonight. Picture: Gordon Clayton Striker Oli Johnson is in line for his first York City start tonight. Picture: Gordon Clayton

SUMMER signing Oli Johnson looks set to be given his full York City debut in tonight’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy second round home clash with Coventry.

Having missed the start of the campaign due to injury, Johnson has only made one substitute appearance – during last week’s 2-0 midweek defeat to Fleetwood at Bootham Crescent – since completing a close-season switch from Oxford.

But, as manager Gary Mills looks to end a run of three home matches without a goal, former Norwich attacker Johnson is poised to make his first starting line-up against the League One Sky Blues.

The City boss said: “Oli’s been doing particularly well of late in training and bits of matches.

“Maybe it’s time for him to show me and all the York City fans what he’s capable of.”

Mills, who had a spell as first-team coach at Coventry under Gary McAllister in 2002/3, added that he did not intend to field a weakened side as many of his contemporaries might at this stage of the competition but, along with Johnson, others might be given a chance to stake their claim for regular league action.

On-loan Peterborough United midfielder Danny Kearns will also come into contention for a first City start after his substitute role during Saturday’s 0-0 home draw with Rotherham.

Scott Kerr, meanwhile, is another option after returning as a second-half replacement at the weekend following seven months on the sidelines after suffering knee ligament damage.

The Minstermen could also turn to the likes of striker Jamie Reed and centre-back Clarke Carlisle, although Mills is only permitted to make a maximum of five changes under competition rules aimed at safeguarding its integrity.

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With only one victory from the last six matches, Mills is also, as ever, keen to secure a positive outcome tonight, saying: “We’ve not had too many wins of late and need to get back to winning ways.

“You could put out a couple of young players in a weaker side because you want to have a look at them in that environment but then you can end up losing and that’s dangerous because you always want a winning mentality at your club.”

Right-back Lanre Oyebanjo remains doubtful with a thigh injury but long-term casualty John McReady (dislocated shoulder) is the only definite absentee.

Comments(19)

Eric Style says...
12:12pm Tue 9 Oct 12

lets have reedy and carlisle start please

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rogue84 says...
12:40pm Tue 9 Oct 12

will be a good game i think, good luck to Oli on his first start....be nice to see Reedy get the nod as well! good luck to the lads.

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YorkCity4Ever says...
12:42pm Tue 9 Oct 12

If we can make 5 changes, then i'd put in Johnson, Kerr, Kearns, Carlisle and McGurk

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long distance depressive says...
1:20pm Tue 9 Oct 12

I would guess that McGurk would be unlikely yet!

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paintitred says...
1:21pm Tue 9 Oct 12

Oli J in Ash rested

Scott K in Danny rested

Clarke or TY in Chris D rested

Would be nice to see Reedy get a run out to , he must be hitting rock bottom now not getting a sniff of any match time.

we need to freshen things up a bit .

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OLD - HEAD says...
1:28pm Tue 9 Oct 12

There must be quite a few fed up players at the club, so the Manager simply has to make some changes for tonight. This is an ideal opportunity for the likes of Reed, Johnson, Kearns, McGurk, Kerr, Carlisle, Potts and Blanchett to get some pitch time. I know he wont make eight changes, but it would be very disappointing if the Manager didnt give some of those lads a game tonight. The league has to be our main priority, so I wont lose any sleep over the result against Coventry. But I am looking for a bit more quality going forward tonight. The reduced prices may also give us a reasonable attendance, lets hope so .

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paintitred says...
2:05pm Tue 9 Oct 12

City have sold out of the 500 tickets bradford sent us.

if you dont have a ticket you have to get it on the day from the ground.

Bradford must be really up themselfs to only allocate 500 for the ycfc to sell.

lets hope they have plenty of office staff on duty on saturday as we dont get a repeat of the Darlington farce a couple of seasons back .

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johnno65 says...
5:55pm Tue 9 Oct 12

YorkCity4Ever wrote:
If we can make 5 changes, then i'd put in Johnson, Kerr, Kearns, Carlisle and McGurk
Maybe start with J.Smith then Scott half way through second half, i know he's up for it but dont think we should be rushing him. Keep him for Saturday, should be a good game tonight i'll be leaving Darlo in the next 5 minutes.

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PhilTopping says...
6:19pm Tue 9 Oct 12

No way should Kerr play. Steady introduction to first team football is the way forward, protect the new ligament in his knee, allow it to strengthen gradually. I though he looked a bit portly on Saturday, a few pounds overweight and very heavy on his feet. We've got to give him time and a few more weeks on the training field.

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The Mc says...
7:20pm Tue 9 Oct 12

paintitred wrote:
City have sold out of the 500 tickets bradford sent us.

if you dont have a ticket you have to get it on the day from the ground.

Bradford must be really up themselfs to only allocate 500 for the ycfc to sell.

lets hope they have plenty of office staff on duty on saturday as we dont get a repeat of the Darlington farce a couple of seasons back .
Jjust mentioning Darlington, they are doing well in the Northern league Div 1.....played 13 won 12! Top of the league by 6 points. Still getting gates of around 1,500.
They are slowy on their way back!

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Bernard111 says...
9:33pm Tue 9 Oct 12

Don't want to sound alarm bells ringing but this is 3 home games in a row now where we haven't scored a goal! we need a striker never mind midfielders! watched the game sat at home against Rotherham and everything is played through Walker! It's becoming more apparent now that Walker is expected to start the move and also finish moves! he needs an out and out striker playing along side him to take some pressure off! as I say don't want to sound alarm bells ringing but we need to fix the up front situation fast otherwise I can't see us scoring many goals to keep us up! lets hope I'm over re-acting!

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Bernard111 says...
9:41pm Tue 9 Oct 12

0 - 4! that's got to be the worst home defeat in a while ? it's a good job it was only the JPT!

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joejamestom says...
10:08pm Tue 9 Oct 12

ok what happened? not scoring and leaking 4. Only bothered about league & FA Cup but concerning.

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YO1 says...
10:14pm Tue 9 Oct 12

We were far the better team in the first half but a couple of mistakes by players short on match practice cost us.

No need to panic, but it was disappointing to see our heads drop after the second goal. Confidence is low at the moment and the last thing we need is the moaners in the crowd making it worse.

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PhilTopping says...
10:27pm Tue 9 Oct 12

YO1 wrote:
We were far the better team in the first half but a couple of mistakes by players short on match practice cost us.

No need to panic, but it was disappointing to see our heads drop after the second goal. Confidence is low at the moment and the last thing we need is the moaners in the crowd making it worse.
Supporters are human and the club's home form has been poor for a long time now. Had it been anybody but Mills as manager and there would have been some loud dissenting voices in the crowd tonight. Mills can't keep over promising and under delivering. Parslow for Johnson was a poor tactical and political move. The response from the crowd was almost painful and I felt sorry for Danny. The lack of a back up plan, the over reliance on a woefully off form Chambers and the tendency for City to go long every second half - all show that Mills needs to step away and re-think his strategy for this season.

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alimount says...
10:35pm Tue 9 Oct 12

All we can be thankful is that Sky didn't show the game like we were all hoping! Mills needs to step back and look at the squad, how is most of that starting 11 disappointing every game and still being played. Those players in the stands must be wondering what they have done wrong.

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openallhours says...
12:08am Wed 10 Oct 12

Absolute disgrace! - Challinor, Carlisle and Chambers should never play for York again. By the way, last season's highs have been and gone so don't need posters on here with 'Gary's done this and Gary's done that and we should be so thankful etc etc...' The McGills took us down (Chris Brass anyone?) so it's only right that they brought us back up and that's fine by me. What I find annoying is that we have perfectly good players who are capable of playing good football but Mr Mills doesn't see it that way. Anybody defending tonight's debacle should be ashamed of themselves!

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uhtred says...
9:41am Wed 10 Oct 12

will reserve comment until we see how they respond on Saturday when it matters. On twitter this morning Walker on crutches after match and getting X-ray this morning!!!!!!!!!

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duffy says...
9:58am Wed 10 Oct 12

I'm not going to comment on the game as I was not there. I have however seen the goals and they were shocking. It's just a massive shame that just when we get people back watching the club we are going to drive them away again. God knows why Mills thought the defence was good enough not to be strengthened.

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