WES Fletcher is ready for "payback" when Portsmouth visit York City this afternoon.

The Minstermen striker missed the final two months of last season after a crude challenge by Pompey defender Ben Chorley saw him sent off and left Fletcher with medial ligament damage.

That meant the 23-year-old forward missed out on the club's play-off, semi-final defeat to Fleetwood and, having received no apology from Chorley or anybody at Fratton Park, Fletcher wants to exact revenge on the pitch.

Centre-back Chorley will play no part in today's contest as he is sidelined with a calf injury but Fletcher, who scored his first City goals in last season's corresponding fixture - a 4-2 win - is still determined to give the 2008 FA Cup final winners a torrid 90 minutes.

He said: "The home game against them was a very good match early on last season and we got a good result because we were struggling a little bit then as well. The away game didn't go too well for me and, even though the player who injured me is not in the team, I will be looking to get a bit of payback against them as a club really and doing me best to get a few goals."

More than a thousand Portsmouth supporters are expected to converge on Bootham Crescent and Fletcher is relishing the opportunity to quieten the travelling hoards.

He added: "I like playing in front of more people. It gives you more chance to show off really and there's no better feeling than silencing a big crowd of fans like Portsmouth will bring."

Fletcher was used as a lone central striker as manager Nigel Worthington switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation for last weekend's 2-0 defeat at Dagenham and, offering his views on the system and his role within it, the Ormskirk-born attacker said: "We were all asked if we were comfortable with it and we all said we were, so that's why we went ahead with it.

"We felt OK with it really. In the position I played, I don't think you get as many chances as you would playing two up front.

"I was told to hold the ball up, bring others into play, get the ball out wide and then get in the box so I'm more the hold-up player in that system to bounce things off but you've still got to try and create chances."

The arrival of 6ft 1in forward Ryan Brunt on loan from Bristol Rovers could, however, herald a return to 4-4-2 and Fletcher has no problem with feeding off a target man, explaining: "We like a long ball really, so bringing him in could bring me into play as well.

"It will be good to play with somebody who's a bit bigger and, if he's going for the ball, I will be looking to get in behind and link up with him."

After missing City's entire pre-season campaign as he completed his road to recovery, Fletcher also believes he is now fully fit having played all but four minutes of the last five matches.

"I feel a lot better than I did during the first couple of games and I can last 90 minutes now," he said.