MARTIN FOYLE reckons a blood and thunder display can bring about a Bootham Crescent bonanza for York City tomorrow.

The Minstermen, current play-off contenders in the Blue Square Premier, take on an inconsistent Crewe Alexandra side in the first round of the FA Cup (3pm).

And, with the visitors in the midst of a shaky run, having lost six of their last eight games in League Two, City boss Foyle says the tie has all the hallmarks of an FA Cup giant-killing – as long as his side can stop Dario Gradi’s men from getting into their fluent footballing stride.

“It would be fantastic, wouldn’t it?” said Foyle, of a potential money-spinning Cup run.

“It’s one of those games that’s set up for a giant-killing. There’s not as big a gap between Conference football and League Two as people think.

“We’ve got to make sure we get in amongst them. We’ve got to try to unsettle them – I don’t mean by kicking them but by closing them down and working hard. They’re going to be a decent footballing side, they’re probably going to have a lot of the ball, but they will give us chances.

“They’ve lost a few games but they score a lot of goals. We have to defend better than we have – that’s not just the defenders but the midfielders in front of them – and if we do that, I’m sure we can cause them problems.

“We look like we can score goals. Let’s hope we take our chances – we had enough to the win the game at Crawley last time out.”

Foyle was set to recall defender Alan O’Hare from his loan spell at Gainsborough Trinity in the wake of the injury to centre-back Djoumin Sangare, who could be out for a month.

O’Hare would likely go on the bench, with Ben Purkiss set to return from illness and go straight back in at right-back, meaning Daniel Parslow can move across to re-form his central defensive partnership with David McGurk, who has also overcome his virus.

Foyle reported “one or two niggles” but will also have striker Richard Pacquette back from injury and said he has “quite a few options” should he have to make more changes to the side that lost 3-1 at Crawley.

That defeat highlighted City’s inconsistent away form – they have won only twice on their travels this term – but their fine record on home soil means Crewe’s veteran campaigner Gradi will be wary of a Cup shock.

Foyle nevertheless recognised he is set to come up against a manager highly-regarded in the game.

“Dario’s very good,” he said. “He makes sure the whole club is run properly, and how they promote football is good. The boys there are brought up in the right way, and credit to them for that.

“But come tomorrow we’ve got to make sure we can mix it both ways – by playing our own football and stopping them playing theirs.”

York City: (probable) Ingham, Purkiss, McGurk, Parslow, Carruthers, Boyes, Barrett, Lawless, Ferrell, Rankine, Brodie. Subs from Mimms, O’Hare, Nelthorpe, Meredith, Pacquette, McWilliams, Mackin, Smith.