KINGSLEY JAMES has emphasised that York City need to “defend better, first and foremost” when they take on Chesterfield.

Chesterfield travel to the LNER Community Stadium to face York tomorrow (7.45pm) in a mid-week Vanarama National League clash.

City will be seeking a swift return to winning ways after falling to a 2-1 loss at the EBB Stadium against Aldershot Town on Saturday.

“We need to defend better, first and foremost,” insisted City first-team coach James. “The goals (against Aldershot) shouldn’t happen.

“I know you can say that about every goal, but the first one is a big mistake and the second one is probably four or five mistakes in all different areas of the pitch, which allowed the striker to get in and do what he wanted really, which was poor.

“We’ve defended brilliantly as our record shows this season, so we can’t be too critical and too harsh, but you have to defend properly in any game and we have to be better in situations where we’re not playing as well as we have done.

“When we’re playing well, we really play well, but when we’re not playing as well as we can, we seem to struggle to grind results out, which we need to get better at.”

The Minstermen will be without winger Alex Hurst after he was dismissed for a tackle on Frank Vincent against Aldershot.

Chesterfield are currently third in the league, just six points behind league leaders Notts County.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” enthused James. “Two massive clubs, Chesterfield are a really strong team, a really strong outfit with a great manager, so we’re expecting a tough game but one that we’re really relishing.

“They’ve got a bit of everything. Both full-backs are really attack-minded and like to get forward.

“They’ve got a lot of quality in midfield, Olly Banks I’ve seen for a number of years. I’ve played against Olly numerous times, he’s got great quality in possession.

“If you give him time on the ball, he can dictate the game and he’s scored some great goals throughout his career from range.

“The strikers, whoever plays, they’re a real handful. A lot of pace and a lot of energy. It’s going to be a tough game, but when we’ve had tough games, we’ve performed. I’m looking forward to it.”