FORMER York City striker Liam Henderson has already been on the receiving end of an FA Cup upset against Ashton Athletic, but reckons anything other than a home win during this afternoon’s third qualifying round tie at Bootham Crescent would represent an “unbelievable shock”.

Ashton are currently bottom of the ninth-tier North West Counties League, having taken just one point and scored one goal from their opening six fixtures.

Henderson’s current team Morpeth Town, meanwhile, are operating one level higher and will top the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League’s east division table if they win their game in hand.

But 2016 FA Vase winners Morpeth were knocked out 2-1 at home in their second qualifying round replay against ex-Wigan Sunday League outfit Athletic, following an earlier 1-1 draw in Greater Manchester.

Despite that experience, 28-year-old Henderson, whose Minstermen career only amounted to seven outings and one goal during the 2011/12 double-Wembley winning season after signing from Championship outfit Watford, does not expect Ashton to trouble his old club.

He has, however, warned City about the Yellows’ dangerman Marcus Cusani, whilst also highlighting a particular area of the team that temporary manager Sam Collins could look to exploit.

Providing the lowdown on Ashton, Henderson admitted: “They did a job on us twice, because we were lucky to come away with a draw from the first game. Then, in the replay, they worked harder than we did as a team and we perhaps under-estimated them, as they got their two-goal lead in the first half.

“In the second half, we did everything to try and get back on level terms, but they defended well and deserved to go through. They have a tall boy on the left wing (Cusani) who is very direct, and he also scored a free kick against us.

“All the goal kicks and long balls go to him and they look to play off him. The keeper also comes and collects a lot of balls and he’s confident on corners, while the centre-halves are solid for that level and happy to put their bodies on the line and make last-ditch tackles.

“But they haven’t got a lot of pace in the full-back areas and they struggled a bit when we got behind them and put balls across the box and as a full-time outfit, I’d fully expect York to win comfortably. I think it would be an unbelievable shock if they didn’t win on Saturday and, while they obviously can’t under-estimate them, York’s quality should come through.”

On missing out on a return to Bootham Crescent during City’s last season at the 86-year-old ground, meanwhile, Henderson reasoned that the defeat to Ashton was more of a setback for Morpeth as a club, than him personally, adding: “It was obviously gutting and it would have been lovely for me to come back.

“I didn’t have the greatest of times at York to be honest, but I couldn’t say anything bad about the people I met behind the scenes. I think I’d be speaking for all our players, though, if I said we felt sorrier for the chairman and volunteers who help the club because it would have been one of the biggest games in the club’s history and generated a lot of money for the club.”

Prior to joining Morpeth in 2016, Henderson had spent three seasons at Spennymoor, where he counted summer City recruits Kallum Griffiths and Joe Tait as team-mates.

The full-time converts have been the Minstermen’s strongest performers during the early weeks of the campaign and Henderson is not surprised to see both players impressing.

“When I played with Kallum, I rated him as the best non-League right-back in the north-east – better than any Gateshead had in the Conference and I couldn’t understand why anybody hadn’t taken a chance on him before,” Henderson declared. “With Taity, you also know what you’re going to get.

“He’s brilliant around the changing room. He’s demanding and dominating and, whilst he had a tough year last season at Spennymoor by all accounts, he seems to be revitalised now.”

Henderson eventually left City for Gateshead the season after Gary Mills had masterminded the club’s return to the Football League and the 6ft 1in confessed that he would never have envisaged the fate that was to befall his former team on his departure, reasoning that the next choice as permanent manager must be spot-on with future professional sustainability in mind.

“There’s not a chance I’d have thought York would end up in this position so soon after what happened in 2012 and, then, being in the League Two play-offs two years later,” he exclaimed. “To not even make the Conference North play-offs in the first season at that level with the budget I assume they had shouldn’t have happened and, looking from the outside in, they should be doing better now.

“The problem seems to be consistency because, even though there are some big clubs in that division now, York seem to lose to teams they really shouldn’t be doing. Hats off to Jason McGill for taking the burden by backing the managers he has done over the last few years, but the next man clearly has to be the right choice, because the club cannot financially afford to keep changing manager and bringing in so many players if they are to stay full-time.

“I thought Martin Gray might have got it right, but it would have probably depended on the players buying into what he did as a manager at Darlington and I’m not sure that the fans would have appreciated that type of football. For the club to still be pulling in the number of fans they are, though, is unbelievable and I hope they do get back to where they belong.

“I know from personal experience the fans are very demanding, and get twitchy when things aren’t going well, but rightly so at the current level.”

Henderson, who is now in the final year of a plumbing apprenticeship, feels no bitterness towards City either, even though the move to North Yorkshire from Watford, where he had made 18 Championship appearances, seemed to begin the downward spiral of a once promising career that had seen him wanted by West Ham’s much-feted academy at the age of 16.

“It seemed like Gary Mills felt I wasn’t for him within six weeks of signing for the club and I felt I wasn’t given a fair crack of the whip, but I can’t blame X, Y and Z, because you have to look at yourself and I probably wasn’t mentally strong enough when I came to York,” he admitted.

“I was also behind Jason Walker in the pecking order and he was unbelievable at the start of that season. He was virtually winning games single-handedly.”

Henderson also joined City having failed to net in 53 matches at full-time level for Watford, Hartlepool, Colchester, Aldershot and Rotherham.

It was a run that he admits did take its toll psychologically at a young age, although he did manage to open his City account during his fifth outing for the club.

Current forwards Jake Wright and Jordan Burrow have now gone nine and seven matches respectively without finding the net since summer moves and, on overcoming that hurdle, Henderson suggested: “You have got to be strong enough mentally, because that’s what it boils down to when you’re going through those times.

“It did affect me a little bit, but the lads at York have somebody like Jon Parkin there to turn to now and, with his experience, I’m sure he’ll be telling them the goals will come if they keep grafting and producing for the team. Sometimes, it can prey on your mind and you don’t get in the positions you should do, but you have to believe that a goal will come and, then, you can go on a nice run.”

Elsewhere, Kallum Griffiths continues to top The Press Player of the Month and Year standings.

The former Spennymoor right back picked up another two points as our second-highest rated performer during last weekend’s 3-0 home defeat to Kidderminster.

Press man-of-the-match Simon Heslop collected three points, meanwhile, with Adam Bartlett (one) also recognised as our third-highest rated performer.

Adriano Moke was awarded the two Player of the Month bonus points after topping our Twitter man-of-the-match poll.

The Press Player of the Year standings: Griffiths 11, Heslop 7, Tait 7, Parkin 5, Penn 4, Bartlett 3, Langstaff 3, Newton 3, York 3, Ferguson 2, Law 2, Wright 2, Allan 1, McAughtrie 1.

The Press Player of the Month standings for August: Griffiths 7, Heslop 4, Law 2, Moke 2, Bartlett 1.

Goals: Langstaff 3, Parkin 2, Moke 1, Tait 1, York 1.

Assists: Parkin 3, Bartlett 1, Burrow 1, Ferguson 1, Griffiths 1, Langstaff 1.

Discipline: Bencherif, Heslop, Wright all two yellow cards; Penn one red; Ferguson, Kempster, Langstaff, McAughtrie, Newton, Tait all one yellow.