KEVIN Donovan may be given a permanent role in the centre of midfield after Billy McEwan changed tactics for last night's excellent 1-0 victory at Exeter City.

McEwan employed a 4-5-1 formation against Exeter with wide men Paul D Robinson and goalscorer Dave Merris also given licence to support lone front man Andy Bishop.

Former Grimsby midfielder Donovan was brought inside from the right flank to join Byron Webster and Darren Dunning in a three-man engine room.

McEwan is also hoping that his presence in a more central role will lead to greater creativity from the middle of the park.

The City boss said: "I felt a player of his ability, playing at this level, was not involved in the previous two games enough, especially against Woking. I thought if we can get him infield a bit more he could get us passing."

McEwan had little time to work on his new system before last night's match with the training ground and KitKat Crescent pitch out of action this week because of snow.

Instead, the former Rotherham and Sheffield United boss used a flip chart yesterday afternoon to outline his game plan at the hotel the players stayed in last night.

About his reason for making the switch, McEwan said: "It's a system I've used over the years and I haven't been feeling comfortable about one or two things. I gave them the first couple of games playing the formation they have played before but I wanted to change things around to see if they could cope with it."

McEwan celebrated his first victory in charge of the Minstermen last night and heralded "11 heroes" after a battling performance earned maximum points despite Exeter managing 18 goal attempts compared to the visitors' two.

He said: "It was backs to the wall at times against a good Exeter side. The lads showed great resillience though and even though we rode our luck we earned that because our effort and commitment was fantastic.

"I was really proud of them. They were first class and there were 11 heroes out there."

McEwan also had individual praise for wide men Merris and Robinson, lone striker Bishop and goalkeeper Chris Porter, who made a string of excellent saves to secure victory.

He added: "The little fellow Merris worked hard for the team and got his reward. Paul 'D' Robinson also did ever so well in the build-up to the goal.

"We punished them for a mistake and caught them by surprise. It was also difficult for Andy Bishop battling against two centre halves but he competed and we got knock downs and second balls.

"Chris Porter made some superb saves too but that's what he's paid for. His job is to keep the ball out of the net and he earned his corn."

Updated: 10:05 Wednesday, February 23, 2005