YORK City match-winner Simon Heslop will be free to play in the FA Cup at the weekend despite incurring a one-match suspension at Southport on Saturday.

Heslop's ban was triggered after he received his fifth yellow card of the season just two minutes before rifling in the spectacular winning goal that clinched a 2-1 triumph on Merseyside.

But, with all the cautions coming in National League North contests, following a summer rule change, Heslop is not ruled out of this Saturday's fourth qualifying round trip to Blyth Spartans.

Instead, he will miss the October 27 league trip to Telford.

Under the new law, yellow cards received in the league do not apply to knockout competitions, with two bookings leading to a one-match ban in the Cup, although a cut-off point has now been reached in the tournament, meaning only future cautions, received between Saturday's ties and the quarter-finals, will count towards that punishment.

City chief Sam Collins, meanwhile, reasoned that suspensions can be an occupational hazard, but he would clamp down on any unnecessary yellow cards.

"It’s a fine line, because I want everybody to be on the front foot and aggressive, especially midfielders," he pointed out. "Sometimes, you have to commit a professional foul as well when it’s a good time to do it, as Tom Allan did (at Southport) but, if people get booked for a needless free kick or a silly foul, then you feel differently."

Teenager Nathan Dyer, meanwhile, has been hailed for his attitude after impressing Collins again during his second senior appearance.

The 17-year-old apprentice kept his place in the side at Southport after a promising debut the previous weekend against St Ives Town in the Cup.

That decision meant The Press’ Player of the Year leader Kallum Griffiths was kept out of the squad for back-to-back fixtures as Dyer fulfilled right-wing back duties, before being asked to operate in a more advanced role on the flank following a tactical first-half reshuffle.

He was later replaced by Jon Parkin, but Collins enthused: “I thought he was great again and I wasn’t surprised by that. The longer the week before the game went on, I wanted to see how he reacted after his debut because, sometimes, with the euphoria and adrenalin surrounding that, you can get a big low afterwards.

“But he trained really well and it was him all over when he did well after being asked to play out of position when we changed the system. With his attitude, he just kept going and going and he was one of our better players in general play.

“We only brought him off because we wanted to try and win the game and, if we’d have been happy with a point, we might not have changed anything, but we had the likes of Jon Parkin and Adriano Moke on the bench who I knew could help us get three.”

Skipper Joe Tait, meanwhile, was conducting running exercises on the pitch before the Southport game as he looks to recover from a tight hamstring muscle and Collins expects to have him back this weekend.

“He was touch and go for Southport and I didn’t want to risk losing him for weeks and weeks, but he should be back for Blyth,” the City boss explained.