City must stay tight

9:33am Tuesday 4th March 2008

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I'M SURE Wembley is on the minds of everybody at York City this week and my thoughts will be with my old club on Friday night when they run out at Torquay for the first leg of their FA Trophy semi-final.

For me, the important thing in a two-legged semi-final is to get the away leg first and, with York having that advantage, I feel that the KitKat Crescent crowd could play a big part in helping their team reach the final.

If Colin Walker's team can come back with no more than a one-goal deficit or better then they will have a great chance because they proved in the 2-0 league win over Aldershot that they can attack as a team at a high tempo in front of their home fans.

If they get a big crowd and play like that, I think it will be an intimidating place for Torquay because the Crescent has always created a fantastic atmosphere when people are crammed in.

I also think the fans at the club respond to one-off cup occasions. When I was there, we obviously had the FA Cup victory against Arsenal but I even remember there being a terrific buzz in the first round against Newcastle Blue Star and it will be great for York fans to feel that sense of excitement a week on Saturday in the return leg.

For me, the emphasis on Friday will be to give as little away as possible at Plainmoor. You can't concede daft goals in games like this - the opposition have got to earn them.

It's also important to get out of the blocks quickly in a semi-final because, if you don't, you can quickly find yourself out of it. We didn't start well at Coventry in the 1987 FA Cup semi-final against Leeds and, had it not been for some super saves by Steve Ogrizovic and a bit of luck, we wouldn't have got to Wembley, so fortune can play its part as well.

What York must avoid is being two goals down or worse after the first leg because Torquay could then dictate how the second game pans out.

In that situation, they wouldn't come flying out and would sit back with the onus on York to break them down, which can prove difficult.

It's also a shame that a lot of York fans won't be able to make Friday's game after it was switched from Saturday on the advice of police.

Whenever I went to Torquay in the past as a player or manager, there was only about 1,500 or 2,000 fans there normally and it wasn't the most intimidating place but this tie might result in a different Plainmoor on Friday, especially with a smaller away following.

Having said that, as a player I used to really fancy night matches and I know a lot still do. The atmosphere seems a little bit more intense under floodlights and I'm sure York's players can respond to that.

The bottom line is both sets of players will be desperate for the opportunity to play at Wembley. Torquay are high in the table and even though the club might want promotion more, as a player I would always have rather reached a final and won a trophy and I'm sure they feel the same.