YORK City striker Leon Constantine is poised for a recall ahead of tonight’s crucial home match with Luton Town as manager Gary Mills looks to boost his side’s goal power.

Constantine, 33, scored his eighth goal of the season after coming on as a substitute in Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Tamworth – the eighth successive game he has started on the bench for the Minstermen.

But, with a goal return of one every 103.8 minutes since Mills came to the club in mid-October, the 6ft 1in forward, who has also scored more than 20 times during Football League seasons for Port Vale and Southend in the past, is a strong contender to return to the City front line.

The Bootham Crescent club have only netted more than one goal in two of their last nine fixtures and City boss Mills added: “Leon Constantine has always been in contention since I’ve been at the club, whether I have played him or not.

“It’s always been in my mind whether I start him for games and people will see if I do that tonight. He’s a good professional who’s scored some goals for me and we will need them this evening.

“I always consider changes and I’ve made my decision what team I will be picking to win us the match but nobody will find out whether there are any changes until tonight.

“Scoring goals is the hardest thing in the game whether you are six inches or 20 yards from goal and their ’keeper was in inspirational form on Saturday.

“We had some good efforts but should have done better with others and we’ve missed chances in quite a few games now.

“We need to put that right in what is a massive game against Luton and I want people hitting the target. Then if the goalkeeper saves it, fair play to him.”

David McDermott has recovered from the pulled hamstring that caused him to miss Saturday’s game but, despite centre-back David McGurk’s continued absence, Mills will not be recalling defender Greg Young from his loan spell at Altrincham for this game, saying: “That won’t be happening but if we picked up another injury tonight then it might be a possibility.”

Mills also reiterated his belief that City can propel themselves firmly into the play-off picture with three points against Luton.

Kidderminster, currently lying sixth in the table, play host to Darlington this evening holding a two-point advantage over the Minstermen.

Fifth-placed Fleetwood are six points ahead of City, for whom tonight’s match is their game in hand on the Lancashire outfit.

Kidderminster then play host to Fleetwood on Friday prior to the Minstermen’s fixture at Darlington on the following day.

“I still believe we can do it and that’s not just talk,” Mills insisted. “Our job’s a bit tougher now but is reaching the play-offs still a possibility? Yes. Can we do it? Yes.

“Is it going to be easy? No. But it’s still there for the taking.

“We have got to win tonight and then the whole outlook and picture can change again. We need desire, passion and belief.

“It’s not just ourselves that have to win football matches. Fleetwood and Kidderminster do too and they are playing each other on Friday so at least one of them, if not both, will be dropping points.

“We need to be bigger, bolder and stronger than everybody else. I want everybody who went home on Saturday thinking it’s probably over to leave the ground tonight knowing that we are back in it and can do it.”

Mills also refused to be drawn on whether the tetchy relationship between tonight’s two opponents, built up by a series of events since the crowd trouble following City’s play-off semi-final victory last season at Kenilworth Road, added an extra edge to a vital fixture for his team.

He said: “Everybody else can make their own mind up on that one.

“Everybody gets themselves up for games in different ways and, if it’s playing Luton that motivates you, then why not?

“What motivates me is losing 5-0 down there when my ’keeper got sent off. I want my players to prove that defeat would not have happened otherwise.

“I want to beat them for the right reasons, nothing personal or vindictive, but for the most important thing, which is to get three more points to put us in that play-off picture.”