STEPHANE ZUBAR believes York City need their leaders to step forward during tomorrow afternoon's home match with Exeter.

The Guadeloupe international feels the club lacked on-pitch authority during last weekend's 3-0 defeat at Northampton and knows, at 28, he and his fellow senior professionals must grasp that mantle.

City retain a mature spine to their side with current goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik (28) centre-backs Zubar and Keith Lowe (29) and midfield lynchpin Russell Penn (29) not short on experience.

Penn (435), Lowe (359), Olejnik (294), Michael Coulson (270) and Emile Sinclair (252), who all started at Sixfields, also boast more than 250 senior appearances to their name and Zubar is now hoping that grounding in the game can help direct the team to maximum points today.

He said: "I don't think we had any leaders on the pitch at Northampton and we need to learn for that. We had a meeting after the game and another one on Monday.

"It was positive and all about how we should manage games. Everybody knows where we are going now and what the manager really expects from us.

"It was a wake-up call that we needed and we must now show everybody that last weekend was just a bad day because, when we played against Luton and Tranmere in the two games before, we showed we can beat even the best teams."

City 's 14-game run-in to the end of the season will only pitch them against one side currently in the top six - Shrewsbury - while bottom-four rivals Carlisle, Cheltenham and Hartlepool are all still due to visit Bootham Crescent.

But Zubar insisted that fixture schedule should not breed complacency and pointed out that recent well-contested draws against high-flying Burton and Luton suggested the team might play better against some of the division's leading lights anyway.

"It's not an easy run of matches at all," the on-loan Bournemouth defender argued. "We tend to play well against the top teams and I can't really explain why, but everybody must focus on the situation we're in now.

"I saw what happened when I was at Plymouth and the club went into administration and, if we get relegated, people will lose their jobs. We have to make sure we realise that.

"We can't go around saying it won't happen because, of course, it could I really hope we get a reaction from the lads (today) because our fans have been great and everyone wants to stay up but we can't just think we will be fine and that's up to us on the pitch.

"We have 14 games left and we must treat now as the start to our season and focus on every single game. We must try to start to build something against Exeter because we've got nine weeks left and we're ready for the battle."

Zubar's central-defensive partner Lowe scored a header during August's 1-1 meeting against this afternoon's visitors and might have had a hat-trick as the Devon club struggled to combat his threat from corners.

The former Caen reserve, who has netted once in 13 outings for the Minstermen, also reckons he can contribute more on that front.

"You can't just rely on the strikers to score goals," Zubar admitted. "Both myself and Keith are quite tall so we need to head a few in.

"He's scored five this season, which is not too bad and I want to help the team like that too."

Zubar added that there has been an emphasis on winning more second balls in training this week, saying: "When you give the ball away, your team-mate sometimes has to help you win it back as quickly as possible but we weren't getting that reaction at Northampton and that's what League Two is all about, so we have taken that on board."

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Despite last playing for Bournemouth in 2012, Zubar is hoping, meanwhile, that his current team and parent club, who are chasing the dream of promotion to the Premier League, can both finish their seasons on a high.

He said: "Bournemouth did really well in 2014 and, while getting in the top two could be tough, I think they can make the play-offs. It's my goal to help York stay up and then see Bournemouth promoted to the Premier League.

"That would be terrific but there's still a long way to go."

Zubar's contract with the Cherries will come to an end this summer, with no prospect of a new deal.

On his plans beyond that, Zubar said: "I'm focused on making sure York stay up. Then, I I will go on holiday with my family.

"It's too early to talk about what happens past that. All I can say is that everyone at York City has treated me really well so I just want to give them something back by doing my best until the end of the season and then talk after the Portsmouth game."