“THE pressure is always on” York City believes manager Steve Watson - and today’s FA Cup tie against Whitby Town will be no different.

Northern Premier League side Whitby come to the LNER Community Stadium on Saturday (3pm) for a third round qualifying tie they are not favourites to win.

But, with their rich history, former League status and impressive Cup runs, being the higher ranked side in a tie is not the only time aspiring York come under pressure.

In midweek, City lost at home to National League North basement side Hereford, after which Watson called on his players to face up to pressure.

And he has reiterated this message ahead of a tie which could see them one game away from the first round proper.

“The pressure is always on us," he said. "We’ve got a side, squad, club and fanbase that craves to be higher.

“Every game is pressure. I won’t deny it - I think sometimes that shows on the lads, especially the younger ones.

“As I’ve said, we have to cope with that if we want to achieve anything.

“The pressure only gets worse the higher you get.

“It’s not easy sometimes but it’s a necessity to overcome that and they’ll be much better players and characters for it."

City are looking for a positive response to the Hereford defeat, which was their first in a month following a poor start to term.

Watson said: “ We take full ownership of the start to the season. We were hit with injuries and we didn’t handle the second half of both home games very well but then we turned a corner.

“As a result, Tuesday is obviously a setback but I didn’t think it was in that bracket (of the start to the season).

“We played against a team that came to be hard to beat and they worked their socks off.

“Their keeper made some saves, you don’t convert a penalty and then there’s an uncharacteristic mistake from Pete.

“But it’s not the setback the start of the season was. If you’re going to win three and lose one, you’re in a very healthy position."