YORK City boss Russ Wilcox could rotate his squad for Tuesday night’s Capital One Cup trip to Premier League Swansea.

Wilcox felt his side looked tired during a 0-0 draw at Exeter this afternoon and might now rest certain players for the second round tie.

Defender Stephane Zubar will definitely be ruled out after twisting his knee in the St James Park turf, but others might also sit out the Liberty Stadium test with Wilcox reasoning that next weekend’s league meeting with Mansfield should be prioritised.

He said: “Recharging for Tuesday night is going to be so difficult on the back of two long journeys and it’s a worry. We had eight hours on the road the day before this game and it took us three hours just to get to Doncaster.

“We’ve also played five matches in 14 days now and I thought we looked dead on our feet. Some of our lads are absolutely wiped out and, when fatigue comes into play, you can pick up injuries so, whilst I want to put out my strongest team and Swansea’s a great arena to play in, the bigger picture is we don’t want to lose players and I would prefer to win against Mansfield.

“I’m sure everybody will want to play but I’ve got to do what’s best for the football club and, in the long-term, the league is more important. “

Former Frickley Athletic striker Reece Thompson is one player who could miss out, having been left in North Yorkshire instead of making the Exeter trip due to tightness in his groin. “Reece has been receiving treatment so we’ll be assessing him, but I don’t want to risk anybody,” Wilcox added.

Whilst it is too early for a prognosis on Zubar’s 15th-minute injury, it is almost certain that the Guadeloupe international will not feature again during the one-month loan spell that was agreed with Premier League club Bournemouth on the eve of the new campaign.

“We don’t know the extent of Stephane’s injury but he’s very sore and in a lot of pain,” the City chief explained.

With central-defensive trio John McCombe, George Swann and Taron Hare not featuring on the bench at Exeter, transfer-listed left-back Femi Ilesanmi was given his chance to impress in City’s three-man back line and Wilcox praised his display, saying: “I thought he slotted in well.

“I know he’s a good defender one-on-one and he did that well throughout the game. The squad is there to be used and, whether he’s in or out of the team, Femi gets his head down and is a great trainer and a good pro.

“He’s been putting in his extra work to keep fit and that showed against Exeter. I am just looking for my centre-halves to come out with the ball a bit more too, but he gave us more balance on that left side.

“We put him on the bench instead of John McCombe in case we had issues on that left side. John has done nothing wrong but you have to select the squad you think is right for each game and Exeter aren’t the biggest team so we knew we had enough height.”

Wilcox conceded, meanwhile, that his team were second-best against an Exeter team who have lost just one of their opening five fixtures, but welcomed the character that snared a share of the spoils.

He admitted: “Exeter were better than us on the day. When that’s the case you’re relying on character and we were resolute towards the end.

“We would probably have lost that game last season, but we dug in and stayed solid. We can do a lot better, but I’m happy with two clean sheets and four points in a week.

“As a performance, it was nowhere near outstanding, but it was an outstanding point at a team that I think will make the top seven.”

Wilcox also stressed that his team played better without the ball than with it, pointing out: “We had to be good without the ball because we weren’t great with it and that was the most disappointing aspect of the game.

“We gave the ball away too cheaply in central areas of the pitch and that’s why we didn’t really create much in the final third.”