YORK City are believed to be lining up a double swoop for Kidderminster Harriers pair Joe Ironside and Kennedy Digie.

Former Sheffield United striker Ironside, 25, rattled in 23 goals for the Harriers in National League North last term but has lost his place in the first XI this term.

Centre-back Digie, 21, has also been on bench duty in recent times and, while City boss Sam Collins did not want to reveal the identity of his latest targets following the Friday loan arrivals of Alex Bray and Joe Davis from Rotherham and Port Vale respectively, The Press understands that the two players were expected to make the switch to North Yorkshire, as part of the deal that saw Russ Penn return to Aggborough at the end of last week.

Collins was pleased with the full debuts of Bray and Davis during this afternoon’s 2-1 FA Cup first-round defeat at Swindon and is understood to have alluded to the possible loan additions of Ironside and Digie afterwards when he said: “The two new lads had good debuts, especially having not played as much first-team football as they would have liked going into a game like that one and they were a big plus for us.

“We’ve strengthened a little bit and I’m hoping for more good news over the next few days. I don’t want to say anything until we’ve got them over the line, but the two players we’re hoping to bring in would be really positive additions for the club and the group to the extent that I’m a bit surprised that it’s going to happen, because I’m sure the two players we are talking about would be really important players for us.”

Swindon opened the scoring at the County Ground through teenager Scott Twine, before David Ferguson levelled the scores on the stroke of half-time.

An even start to the second half then saw home fans start to turn on manager Phil Brown and his players, before Steven Alzate grabbed a timely winning goal on 76 minutes.

The visitors’ performance, though, represented a significant improvement following a run of three defeats in eight days and Collins insisted the same attitude and commitment levels must now be displayed in all future National League North contests, starting with Tuesday night’s home game against Chester.

Offering his thoughts on his team’s efforts in Wiltshire, Collins said: “It should be a given, but the attitude and determination was what I’m looking for and we also had some really good spells of football. We didn’t get off to the best of starts, as they caught us off guard a bit by changing formation.

“Phil’s teams normally play 4-3-3 but, when we got to grips with that after 15 minutes, we created some good situations and one was for the goal. At half-time, there was a lot of belief in the dressing room and the players were saying we can win this game.

“We then started the second half well and, for 25 minutes, it looked like we might get another goal to hold on to. Then, they had a little spell with the ball and got their second goal.

“The goals we conceded were the most disappointing aspects of the game, as they both looked like they came down to similar things, but I don’t want to be over-critical, because the character the players showed was somewhere near what I want all the time, which I think was seen in the reaction of our fans at the end. I’m sure they were pleased with what they watched in terms of the commitment and willingness to run for 90 minutes and work hard, but you can’t just raise your levels for the FA Cup.

“That has to be the standard for every game we play, because we go back to the bread-and-butter now and we really need to kick on and win matches in the league.”

Reasoning that he believed the main difference on the day between City and League Two Swindon was speed of thought and action, Collins challenged his team to now improve in that aspect to prosper two tiers lower in the football pyramid.

The City boss ventured: “As you go up the leagues, everything is done quicker, and the fitness levels are higher, but I want that from our players at the level we are playing and there’s no reason why they can’t play at the same tempo by improving another 20 or 30 per cent.”

Josh Law will now be assessed ahead of the Chester game, having limped out of the action on the hour mark with Collins explaining: “His toe got stamped on and he was struggling, which unsettled us a bit at the time, although it wasn’t the reason that we conceded another goal.”