ASSISTANT manager Micky Cummins has insisted York City are "not afraid to" mix up their tactics - but insisted players must also take responsibility to adapt mid-game as well.

Concerns have been expressed about York's 3-5-2 formation being 'found out' and opposing teams changing the way they play to neutralise the Minstermen.

Such consternation has increased recently following City's 1-0 defeats at home to Altrincham in the FA Cup and at Curzon Ashton in National League North last week - York's first competitive losses since mid-April.

Cummins and boss Steve Watson have also admitted York players have looked low on confidence, though both say they see no reason why that should be.

On Saturday, City will look to put these results out of their mind when they welcome Alty back to Bootham Crescent in the FA Trophy third qualifying round.

"We can set up tactically differently," Cummins said. "That will mean chopping and changing what we have worked on through the summer. We're not afraid to.

"Then it's down to the individuals who cross the line, and when that whistle blows, it's down to them.

"We see things and they need to see things to change their approach, be it dropping five yards or changing angles. You've got to find a way.

"They have got to take responsibility to rectify that.

"It's not like they're a youth team. They are senior, experienced players.

"We've put some pictures in their heads of 'if this happens, this is what we're going to do'.

"Hopefully we can adapt and change ourselves in games.

"Teams have come and tried to stop us playing," he added. "They know where we're strong. We have worked on things the last couple of weeks on how to adapt to that and play a different way.

"The attitude in training this week towards it has been much, much better."

Following the loss at Curzon Ashton - a defeat which cost York their place at the top of the table - Watson highlighted an apparent lack of self-belief among the players.

Particularly in the first half, he noted, City were more likely to play the ball backwards in the final third rather than risk losing the ball trying to play forward.

There was a marked improvement in the second half and - but for the woodwork and some fine saves - York could easily have found themselves on at least level terms.

"Our thoughts are that there is no need to have a lack of confidence," Cummins said. "We're doing really well in the league and we've ground out results when we've needed to dig in.

"The last couple of games we've been waiting for someone to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and take the impetus.

"We need to be starting like we did the second against Curzon.

"We need to be front foot and positive, like what's got us our success in games in previous months. That's been the focus in training on being positive, getting back together and tight-knit - approaching the game with no fear, being brave and just going out trying to win the game."

York's task now is to do what they have not had to do since the end of January this year, and that is to recover from back-to-back defeats. On Tuesday night, York did enjoy a 5-0 win over Pickering Town in the North Riding County FA Senior Cup first round, though the side more resembled a reserve outfit, with nine changes made to the starting 11 from Curzon Ashton.

With a busy week starting Saturday 30 with a home game against Alfreton Town, Cummins believes it is imperative that City react as soon as possible.

"We've got to react as a club and group and get back to what we were doing well prior," he said.

"As I've said before, winning is a habit and keeping clean sheets is a good habit.

"Now that we're having a little dip, we have got to dig ourselves out of it, and we'll do that from Saturday."

He added: "We had another good training session this morning and we'll work on a couple of things tomorrow.

"After this weekend we have got three games in a week - Alfreton, Hereford and Kettering.

"They are three good games on the bounce and we need to make sure we go into them flying and really at it."