York City midfielder Emmanuel Panther is set to be sidelined longer than first anticipated.

A trip to former England physio Alan Smith this week confirmed that Panther has suffered ankle ligament damage that will keep him out of the Minstermen's side in the foreseeable future.

City boss Billy McEwan said it was impossible at this stage to put a timescale on Panther's estimated recovery time but it will be a significant enough period for the club to step up their search for a replacement.

McEwan said: "It's going to be a lot longer than we thought, which is a major blow for us. We are looking around for replacements but, as we have said before, it's up to the players who get their chance now to take it."

Teenage midfielder Byron Webster is likely to be fit to be included in tomorrow's squad against Grays Athletic despite sustaining lacerations to his thigh in Tuesday night's 4-0 reserve victory at Grimsby.

Former Rochdale midfielder Leo Bertos scored a goal as a trialist in that match but is unlikely to be thrown straight into FA Cup action tomorrow.

McEwan said: "You can't take somebody on the evidence of one performance. He's got to come in and train with us, which I have invited him to do, and we will take it one step at a time."

One man keen to have an impact on the game is Andy Bishop, who scored twice in the fourth qualifying round against Gainsborough to book their first round berth, and was today named in the final 16-man side for the England non-League squad for the first match of the new European Challenge Trophy game in two weeks' time.

The new competition will pitch the England national game side, run by Paul Fairclough, against equivalent sides from Belgium, Holland and Italy over the next 12 months.

The trophy kicks off at FC Racing Jets in Wavre, Belgium, on November 15. England's second match will be at home to Italy on February 15, with a home tie against Holland scheduled for November next year.

Dennis Oli and Jamie Slabber of Grays Athletic are also in the squad.

Tomorrow's squads

York City v Grays Athletic

FA Cup, First round

(at Kit-Kat Crescent)

City (probable): Porter, Price, Dudgeon, McGurk, Merris, Convery, Yalcin, Dunning, Bishop, O'Neill, Donaldson. Subs: Stockdale, Stewart, Mallon, Webster, Staley.

Grays (probable): Eyre, Sambrook, Angus, Stuart, Nutter, McLean, Martin, Thurgood (capt), Kightly, Oli, Slabber. Subs: Bayes, Poole, Hooper, Matthews, Olayinka.

Referee: Bob Desmond (Gloucestershire).

Kick-off: 3pm

Updated: 10:56 Friday, November 04, 2005