BLUE Square Bet Premier table-toppers Wrexham will be without influential skipper Dean Keates for their FA Cup fourth qualifying round home tie against York City tomorrow.

Keates is also likely to be joined on the sidelines by fellow midfielders Lee Fowler and Jamie Tolley, leaving the Dragons much weakened in the middle of the pitch.

Former Walsall and Peterborough favourite Keates, now 33, played out the last exchanges of Sunday’s 0-0 home draw against Newprt with a broken collarbone due to caretaker player-manager Andy Morrell having made all three permitted substitutions.

But he has since been ruled out for six to eight weeks and that loss has been described as “a massive miss” by Morrell.

Keates’ absence compounds existing midfield problems with Fowler having missed the last six games after undergoing knee surgery and Tolley limping out of the action in the first half against Newport with a back problem.

As a result, former Burnley and Reading veteran Glenn Little, now 36, is expected to be included in the first XI for the first time since a summer move from Aldershot, while rookies Joe Clarke and Johnny Hunt, who have nine and two league starts to their names respectively, will also come into contention for the other midfield place alongside Jay Harris in the Welsh team’s 4-3-3 formation.

Centre-back Chris Westwood is in the treatment room as well but Wrexham have few problems defensively, having kept four clean sheets in a row.

The Dragons boast the best goals-against record in the division – 14 – and have conceded just once in their last six outings when fellow high-fliers Gateshead grabbed a consolation in Wrexham’s 4-1 away win.

In total, Wrexham have managed ten shut-outs from their 18 league fixtures, although their achievements at the other end of the pitch are less impressive.

The former European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-finalists’ goal tally of 33 is only the fifth best in the highest echelon of non-League football with former Mansfield and Bradford City striker Jake Speight the leading marksman on seven.

Morrell is the next most prolific Dragon, having hit the back of the net five times, but the 37-year-old former Bury forward has left himself out of the starting line-up for the last two matches.

Rotation in the attacking department has been a regular feature under Morrell with himself, Speight, Danny Wright, Mathias Pogba and Adrian Cieslewicz coming in and out of the team.

Morrell and Wright are expected to warm the bench against the Minstermen who, along with Mansfield, are one of two teams to leave the Racecourse Ground with maximum points this season.

Indeed, Wrexham have been stronger on their travels in 2011/12, having won five more points on the road than they have collected at home.

A run of five successive wins also ended at the weekend against Welsh rivals Newport but Morrell has still taken 19 points from a possible 24 since taking charge following Dean Saunders’ departure for Doncaster Rovers.

Morrell has declared his interest in landing the job on a permanent basis with the Dragons currently two points clear of nearest rivals Fleetwood at the top, but that appointment cannot be ratified until Wrexham Supporters’ Trust have completed their long drawn-out takeover of the club.

In the Cup, Wrexham have struggled in recent seasons despite a fine pedigree which famously includes the 2-1 victory over then reigning top-flight champions Arsenal in 1992.

The Dragons have failed to win their first tie in the tournament during three of the last four campaigns, going out in the fourth qualifying round to Southport last season and to Eastwood Town in 2008.

Wrexham did reach the second round proper in 2009 but only beat minnows Halifax and Lowestoft before exiting at the hands of Swindon.

Probable team: Mayebi, Obeng, Creighton, Knight-Percival, Ashton, Little, Harris, Clarke, Cieslewicz, Pogba, Speight.

Match facts

It happened on October 29

1927: In a third qualifying round FA Cup tie, City beat Stockton Malleable 7-1 at Fulfordgate watched by 2,685. The scorers were Dick Merritt, Sam Ranby and Fred Albrecht, who each scored twice, plus Oliver Levick.

1960: A 3-2 home win over Mansfield Town in Division Four. Peter Wragg (2) and Colin Addison, pictured left, were the scorers and the crowd was 5,389.

1983: City went back to the top of Division Four following a 2-1 win at Northampton Town. Keith Walwyn scored both goals.

1996: In Division Two (League One), Nigel Pepper (penalty) and Neil Tolson, pictured right, were on target in a 2-0 home victory over Wycombe Wanderers in front of a crowd of 2,254.

2002: A 1-1 draw at Bootham Crescent against Wrexham with Peter Duffield the scorer. The attendance for this Division Three (League Two) affair was 2,970.

Compiled by David Batters