YORK City manager Martin Gray has challenged his players to prove they want to make the National League North play-offs.

Gray was left fuming after a 1-0 defeat at Nuneaton with former City Wembley hero Ashley Chambers’ second-half goal securing the points for the mid-table hosts.

City did not muster a single shot on target during the 90 minutes with angry fans chanting “This is Embarrassing” at the final whistle.

A disgruntled Gray said: “There wasn’t a lot in the game, but their forwards made the difference. We never created any chances, but their front three were a handful and we couldn’t grind out a 0-0.

“It’s very difficult at the moment and I understand the frustration of our fans. I put a 16-year-old who only left school eight months ago (Vinny Steels) and a 17-year-old (Flynn McNaughton) on to the pitch and we’re trying to get into the play-offs, so that’s a lot to ask from them. We desperately need senior bodies back and have relied on Jon Parkin all season and are missing him, but people still need to play with their brains.

“We didn’t play the conditions right and were trying to run with the ball on a boggy pitch. I am very down and disappointed and there were a lot of strong words from the players and myself afterwards.

“We need a team of strong characters that can grind out results and need to recruit more horrible people to get the right results. But the players here now need to stand up and be counted, otherwise we know where they will go in the summer.

“I have asked them if they still want to make a difference at this club and do that bit extra to get into the play-offs.”

Simon Heslop missed out at Nuneaton due to a recurrence of his stomach injury.