JON Worsnop believes York City’s professional status should prove the difference during Saturday’s FA Cup trip to Evo-Stik North table-toppers South Shields.

The hosts will go into the tie having won 11 of their 12 matches this term, but City’s experienced goalkeeper reckons a difference in the teams’ fitness levels will be decisive.

Shields operate two tiers below the Minstermen and, whilst expecting a difficult contest, Worsnop is confident of success in the third qualifying round tie.

“I’ve never been to South Shields, but I’ve heard about them and watched the FA Vase final that they won last season,” Worsnop said. “They also did a job on Darlington to beat them 3-0 in the last round, so I’m expecting a tough challenge.

“We will have to be on our game and we have a point to prove, but we are York and I would like to think we can put them to bed by playing some nice football and doing a professional job.

“They will come at us, but will they live with us for 90 minutes? I don’t know.

“We might have to be patient, even if it takes 60 or 70 minutes to grind them down and get a goal, because I expect us to be a lot fitter than they are.”

At 34, Worsnop is also hoping to enjoy a run in the competition that gave him the opportunity to perform in front of the Sky Sports cameras three years ago.

A 2-1 victory at Southend saw Worsnop star back then in a goal-less second round meeting with Barnsley when he kept the Tykes at bay despite fracturing his cheekbone and losing three teeth.

The subsequent replay was chosen for television coverage and, on the lift the world-famous tournament can give both individuals and their clubs, the Bradford-born shot-stopper added: “I broke my cheekbone in the fifth minute against Barnsley, but carried on playing, kept a clean sheet and was named man of the match.

“The replay was then live on Sky and I’d love to experience something like that again. The Cup gives you that chance, if you progress, to come up against a good team and play in front of a 30,000 crowd, which is what you dream of growing up.

“I’m coming to the end of my career and there won’t be too make more FA Cups I get the chance to play in, so it would be great to have a good run for selfish reasons, but also because it can help your league form as a club too. If you look at Lincoln last season, they went on an unbelievable run to the quarter-finals and it bred the kind of confidence that saw them go on to win the league.

“I think that bit of confidence is all we’re lacking - that extra belief that we are good players who can win games – which a cup run can help with.”