YORK City boss Jackie McNamara has insisted he is not closing the door on the club's senior centre halves.

Thirty-year-old pair Keith Lowe and John McCombe were both left out of the matchday squad for Tuesday night's 2-1 Johnstone's Paint Trophy defeat to Barnsley, while 27-year-old Dave Winfield was an unused substitute.

Instead, McNamara handed 21-year-old George Swan a professional debut alongside converted, 24-year-old left-back Femi Ilesanmi at the heart of City's defence.

Lowe has lifted The Press Player of the Year award for the last two seasons but has been dropped by the new City boss, who also replaced his ex-Wolves team-mate at half-time during his first game in charge - the 3-2 FA Cup exit at Accrington.

But the new City chief has pointed out that the out-of-favour trio can still have a future at Bootham Crescent if they buy into his defensive ethos, saying: "I've spoken to Keith and told him I thought he lost focus mentally a bit at Accrington and that worried me.

"That's not saying he won't be playing. It's up to him when the next opportunity comes to say 'right, I understand what the manager is looking for and the job I have to do to protect the goal and goalkeeper by not giving any silly stuff away'. The same applies to Dave and John too."