ADAM CROOKES, Michael Duckworth, Will Smith and Scott Burgess are all back in contention for York City’s final home match of the Vanarama National League season this afternoon (3pm).

Adam Hinshelwood has been bolstered by the return of a York quartet in the squad, with Crookes, Duckworth and Burgess all featuring in a full week’s worth of training.

Hinshelwood has confirmed that all four are available for selection on Saturday, with Zanda Siziba and Ryan Fallowfield both suspended after receiving red cards in the 1-0 defeat to Eastleigh, and provided an update on the fitness of Thierry Latty-Fairweather, who is back in training.

“It’s helping having one or two players back, so we’ve got a bigger squad to choose from,” Hinshelwood explained.

“The less players we have to choose from, the simpler it is.

“We’ve got Crookesy back in training now, Burge back training, Smithy has been back training as well.

“They are a few options for us now in the squad now, so it’s good to have some options for those positions.

“We’ve got to look at how they have trained, the fitness of the players and how they perform.

“We’ve probably taken our time with those players and not rushed them back for that reason, so that when they come back they are in a better state to be ready for the next.

“Whether if that is from the bench, we’ve been allowed to be patient with those players whilst we got up to speed.

“We’ve now got to two games to go and we sort of need all hands on deck, a player that is fit and available might be needed and called upon.

“He’s [Duckworth] another one that has trained well.

“We probably could have forced the issue for last Saturday but we feel that it was the right thing to be doing when the squad was in the right place.

READ MORE:

“He’s back training well now, we’re taking our time with him and making sure that he is right but he’s another one who is available for selection for sure.”

Hinshelwood also provided an update on Latty-Fairweather, who suffered a concerning back injury in York’s 2-1 victory over Chesterfield on Good Friday.

“Thierry has only had today’s training so we will have to see how he recovers after today tomorrow. Crookesy, Michael Duckworth, Burge have all been training now for over a week so they will be chomping at the bit for this game.”

Hinshelwood also provided a positive update on goalkeeper Rory Watson, who was expected to be out for the rest of the season, but has shown positive progress in training whilst taking part in some running exercises.

The City boss also expressed his support for goalkeeper George Sykes-Kenworthy, with the shot-stopper finding it difficult between the sticks as of late, with Hinshelwood hoping that the former Derby County goalkeeper can celebrate a clean sheet on Saturday to provide a much-needed confidence boost.

David Stockdale is also no longer registered as a player and is solely focusing on his Head of Recruitment role, Hinshelwood confirmed.

“He’s good, since he’s come back in for Rory’s unlucky break on his hamstring injury, he’s done very well for us.

“We just need now a clean sheet to help him out and do his confidence the world of good, but he’s a good player and he knows that he’s close to getting that. I’ve got my fingers crossed that he will get that on Saturday.

“I’m pretty sure he’s [David Stockdale] not registered as a player for us now.

“We got good news on Rory’s hamstring injury so he has been running today and Maison was recalled, we’ve got George as well.

“We feel like we’ve got enough in the goalkeeping department.”

Another player who have been absent as of late is defender Tyler Cordner, who hasn’t been involved in the last eight matchday squads.

Hinshelwood confirmed that it was a tactical decision with the City boss hoping that the defender can improve his fitness, whilst ensuring that he had high hopes for Cordner’s future.

Hinshelwood told the Press: “I think that Tyler could be a massive player for us moving forward, we’re wanting him to work on his fitness and become a little bit sharper, that’s been the target for Tyler.

“He really suits our style and is one of the most composed defenders that we have at the club, we just need him to get himself into better shape to start a game for us.”