YORK City striker Vadaine Oliver is doubtful for Saturday’s National League trip to Chester.

The 25-year-old forward has started the Minstermen’s last 15 games – a run stretching back to the end of January.

He has scored six goals and claimed four assists during that time but was hobbling for long periods of the second half during Tuesday night’s 2-0 home defeat to Bromley after an impact injury to his back.

On Oliver’s chances of featuring at the Deva Stadium this weekend, City chief Gary Mills said: “He’s touch and go.

“He hasn’t trained since Tuesday after getting a whack to his bone on the bottom half of his back. It’s really sore now, so we’ll have to see how he is and, hopefully, he’ll be OK.”

Mills has challenged his team, meanwhile, to recover from the disappointment of defeat in the same manner that they have done following other recent setbacks.

His players have not endured back-to-back defeats since the end of November and Mills added: “We’ve bounced back before after defeats and can still get out of the bottom four again this weekend.

“Tuesday night has gone and I’d rather talk about our last away performance when we won 3-1 at Macclesfield. We’ve got to now perform the same at Chester by starting the game well and being strong as a team.

“That means defending well from the front when they have the ball and hurting them when we get the ball. Everybody is still positive and confident in ourselves that we can go and perform and get the result we need.

“But nobody is being blasé about this situation, because I know how important the next five games are for our football club and what they mean.”

The Minstermen’s next two fixtures are on the road with the Chester trip followed by a Good Friday clash at Solihull Moors.

Accessing that schedule, Mills admitted that he would be satisfied with a win and a draw from the contests.

“I’d take four points from the next two games,” he confessed. “Six would be absolutely perfect, but I still think four would be massive for us and, although I might be wrong, would take us out of the bottom four.”

Mills also confirmed that Aidan Connolly was overlooked for bench duty against Bromley and his absence was not caused by injury.

Three points at Chester would lift Mills’ team above both Torquay and Woking into a position of safety if those two sides cannot win their respective away fixtures at play-off hopefuls Aldershot and Barrow.

Should Braintree lose at home to Dover, victory would also move the Minstermen up to sixth bottom.