YORK City boss Russ Wilcox gave credit to performance analyst Luke Foulkes after Scott Flinders’ penalty save earned his team a 2-2 draw at Stevenage.

Flinders dived to his left to keep out Brett Williams’ 83rd-minute spot kick after Foulkes had indentified that corner as the home substitute’s preferred direction from 12 yards. The City boss went on to stress that Flinders still had to react superbly to keep out Williams’ effort but acknowledged the largely-unheralded employee’s role at a crucial moment during the finely-balanced encounter.

“We do out homework and Luke analyses everything so we knew before the game that their player went to the keeper’s left the last time he took a penalty,” Wilcox revealed. “In fact, I think he’d gone that way for five of his last six, so Scotty decided he would dive that way.

“He still put it right in the corner so it was a difficult save but he managed to push it away and, while the game could have gone either way at 2-2, it would have been cruel for us to come out with nothing.

“I have mixed emotions because, at 1-0 up thanks to a fantastic strike from Eddie Nolan, we were very comfortable, but it was a cracking game that had everything and the bigger picture is we’ve taken four points from six away from home during our last two games and I’d have taken that before going to Newport.”

Nolan’s 30-yard piledriver gave City a half-time lead at Broadhall Way but two goals in three second-half minutes from Chris Whelpdale and Charlie Lee turned the game on its head before Luke Summerfield equalised with another spectacular strike that Wilcox confirmed had been well-rehearsed at the club’s Wiggington Road training ground, rejecting suggestions that the goal might have been a fluke.

The midfield playmaker took a short corner before receiving the ball back from substitute Russell Penn and bending a shot inside home keeper Jesse Joronen’s far post with Wilcox enthusing: “Luke meant that - without a doubt.

“We’ve worked on that set-play and a few others recently to change them about a bit. With that one, he has a few options depending on where he gets the ball back, although I’m not sure he’s hit one like that on the training ground.

“It was an amazing goal and the reward for the togetherness, hard graft, non-stop running and team spirit we showed, backed by our terrific supporters who stuck with us.”

Earlier, Wilcox had seen his team surrender their 39th-minute lead but felt a poor refereeing decision contributed to that turn around.

He said: “We had good shape in the first half, both in possession and out of possession. We knew their wide players would try and push our wing-backs back but they didn’t create many opportunities and Scotty only had one save to make.

“We were resolute, solid and strong defensively. They then came out firing for the second half and you have to give them credit for that but there was a blatant push on Marvin (McCoy) when he was about to head the ball before they equalised.

“That was very frustrating and, whilst I don’t want to criticise officials too much, you need them to get the big decisions right and, if I could see it from the bench, they should have seen it between the four of them because the ref had a perfect view. That goal then gave them an impetus and we had a crazy five minutes as they scored a second from a set-play which was very disappointing because they got the first and second contacts on the ball.”

Wilcox also decided to opt for an unchanged team in Hertfordshire, following the previous weekend’s 3-0 win at Newport with Nolan retaining his starting place and skipper Penn starting on the bench after returning from his foot injury.

“I have to make big calls and it was a big call,” the City manager admitted on his selection dilemma. “But, after a 3-0 win, it would have been difficult to make changes and hard to explain them to whomever I left out.

“It was also justified by the first half when Eddie scored a terrific goal but, at 2-1 down, Russ came on and we changed to a 4-3-3 because we had to gamble and it paid off.”

Wilcox added that the switch also demonstrated the tactical flexibility of his squad, reasoning: “You make changes and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t but it paid off and I thought we looked more of a threat when we went 4-3-3 and had another striker on the pitch.

“We’ve also got the option and personnel to go 4-4-2 with Josh Carson around.”

Emile Sinclair was introduced as the visitors played the last quarter of the game with a three-pronged strikeforce and Wilcox was encouraged by the returning forward’s display, saying: “I was very pleased with Emile.

“I told him before he went on that he needs to get back to the player he can be and the one I saw do so well for Macclesfield and Peterborough. It could take time and we might need to be patient because he’s not played 90 minutes in a first-team environment for six months and that’s a long time in a footballer’s life but we know he’s got pace and power and, hopefully, we can get him back up to speed because that’s the biggest impact he’s had since coming back from injury.”

Wilcox went on to laugh off rumours linking him to the Peterborough managerial vacancy after appearing high up on bookmakers’ lists for the job.

“There’s nothing in that at all,” he pointed out. “I’m happy to keep battling away at York City.

“It’s a terrific club and, while we would like more points and to be further up the table, I believe I can achieve that and push into that top half.”

Wilcox also confirmed that ex-Manchester United trainee Febian Brandy, who is without a club after being released by Rochdale at the end of last season, is currently training with the Minstermen.

“We’re having a look at him, as well as him having a look at us, but he’s a free agent and is open to offers from other clubs,” Wilcox said.

“We’re also looking further afield because we know we need to strengthen at the top end of the pitch but we’ve got to make sure we are making the right decision with whoever we bring in.”