DAVID Mirfin will not be available for York City’s trip to Leamington this weekend after having 31 stitches inserted into a facial wound.

The Press’ Player of the Month for February will miss the first contest in March, with Hamza Bencherif, who replaced him and scored after the injury was sustained in Saturday’s 2-0 home win over Nuneaton, expected to now deputise in the starting XI.

On the extent of Mirfin’s laceration, City chief Steve Watson revealed: “It was really nasty. The physio sent me a picture from the hospital, and I was a bit surprised by it.

“He needed 31 stitches and it was an oddly-shaped injury. He had a big hole in his face, where the tooth had gone through his lip, so it would be unlikely and probably unwise that we try to involve him at Leamington for the sake of one game.

“We’ve got to keep him away from contact, even in training, because, if somebody catches him with a stray arm and it opens up again, it could never heal and we want to make sure he’s OK for the rest of the season.”

Jon Parkin, meanwhile, has returned to training following his calf injury, and Dan Parslow also reported back at Wigginton Road for the first time today after suffering concussion during the 2-1 home defeat to Hereford on February 5.

Despite the Minstermen having the third-worst away record in National League North, Watson went on to argue that, following the club’s first back-to-back wins on the road since January 2018, his players are now travelling with greater belief and a little less pressure than is attached to home contests.

“Going away from home, I feel as confident now, as I do staying at home and it can be easier, because the expectancy to go out and score early on isn’t there,” Watson reasoned. “Saturday was difficult in spells and Nuneaton went on to limit a really good side (leaders Chorley) to the same scoreline on Tuesday night.

“Teams can set up to be very hard to beat when they go away, but you don’t tend to get that when they’re at home. You can go places, be solid and might have to soak up a bit of pressure, while trying to get up the pitch as much as you can.”

Towering target-man Colby Bishop netted both Leamington goals in the 2-2 draw between the two clubs at Bootham Crescent back in December and Watson went on to declare that his team will need to limit the hosts’ opportunities to bombard his team’s penalty box at the New Windmill Ground.

“Set-pieces are certainly something we can improve on defensively and attacking-wise and we have special plans to deal with Leamington’s threat,” Watson declared. “The main thing is we don’t give free kicks away by being impatient and lazy, because I would imagine about 75 per cent of the goals against us since I have been here have come from balls into the box.

“That’s been one of our biggest Achilles heels, so we need to stop it at the source, because there’s not been many times when teams have scored well-worked goals against us.”

With the Brakes’ countryside base providing one of the more modest settings in sixth-tier football, Watson will also accept no excuses for any failure on his team’s part to play to their full potential.

“It’s probably more enjoyable to play at a nice stadium with stands all around it but, to be successful, you have to overcome anything you come up against,” he stressed. “It might be a bit of an open ground, but we haven’t had much wind recently, so we should be able to get the ball down and play.”

With ten games left to go and City seven points adrift of the play-off positions, Watson emphasised that there would be no let-up during the final two months of the campaign as, on the back of three consecutive victories, he continues to identify areas for improvement.

“I think we can still be a bit more solid in defensive areas and a little bit fitter,” he explained. “That’s tough at this stage of the season but, while people were feeling it a little when we came here and put the first three or four sessions on, they are now looking stronger, so we can step up the intensity.

“Nobody is thinking about decelerating. We’ve got to keep driving forward in training to keep the standards high every day.”

Watson reiterated that he hopes Macaulay Langstaff can still make an impression on his loan return from Bradford Park Avenue in the current 4-3-3 formation, which he feels might suit him better operating from the left flank, but he remains on the lookout for an additional attacking recruit too, saying: “You always want to add more goals so, if we can find somebody who gives us more of a threat in that respect, whether they be a striker, a wide player or a midfielder, we would look at that.”