YORK City goalkeeping coach Paul Musselwhite is set to be named on the bench for today’s FA Trophy semi-final second leg clash as manager Gary Mills looks to avoid a repeat of his team’s last trip to Kenilworth Road.

The Minstermen were thumped 5-0 in last season’s league meeting between the two sides in Bedfordshire after captain Chris Smith donned the gloves with terrible consequences following Michael Ingham’s 15th-minute sending-off, conceding four times in the first half before being replaced between the sticks by fellow defender Greg Young for the second period.

Mills, as then, normally opts for five outfield players as his substitutes but he is poised to include 43-year-old Musselwhite in his selection this afternoon due to the importance of the match, which sees City take a 1-0 lead to Luton with the overall aggregate winners booking a place in the Wembley final on Saturday, May 12.

Musselwhite has only made the bench twice for City this season – during the FA Cup tie against Wrexham when seven substitutes were permitted and at his former club Lincoln in January.

His last senior appearance came as a 67th-minute replacement for the Imps back in October 2010 and that match represents the former Scunthorpe and Hull City shot stopper’s only professional outing since April 2006.

On his plans for Kenilworth Road, Mills said: “I usually don’t go with a ’keeper on the bench but it’s a case of once bitten and all that and now may be the time to do it.

“We are a goal up and the risk of not going with a substitute ’keeper cannot be overlooked. Put it this way, I’ve worked Paul Musselwhite a bit harder in training this week.”

Away goals do not count in determining this afternoon’s overall winners, meaning if the teams are level after a 30-minute period of extra time, penalties will decide who goes through to meet Newport or Wealdstone in the final.

Mills revealed he had not worked on spot-kicks any more than normal in the build-up to today’s match but admitted he does have five takers in mind should a shoot-out be required.

The City boss added: “We practice penalties all the time anyway. We know the ones that would like to take them but you never know what can happen during a game.

“Players get injured and some might get substituted. Ultimately, it’s all about which players fancy it when it comes to the crunch.”

Jamie Reed would be a certainty to take spot-kicks, should he still be on the pitch.

The former Bangor City striker has netted in each of the Minstermen’s last two games, taking his season’s tally to 11.

He is now closing in on 16-goal top scorer Jason Walker and Matty Blair, on 15, but Mills is not interested in promoting a three-way fight for the club’s golden boot this season.

The City chief said: “There’s always a contest to see who will be top scorer but I don’t like to make a major issue of that. If there’s a bit of competition between the lads, I don’t want people taking shots when somebody else is in a better position to score.

“You can’t have any of that and I’d like to think all the players involved feel the same.”

City skipper Smith is unlikely to challenge the likes of Walker, Blair and Reed in the scoring stakes but Mills, nevertheless, has spoken of the value of the centre-back’s striking contribution after claiming his fourth of the campaign in Tuesday night’s 3-2 win at Grimsby.

Mills said: “He did it at Tamworth for me and weighs in with a few goals.

“He’s always the first volunteering to go up front if we need a late goal and, as well as getting up well in the box, he’s got good feet too. I always fancy him for six or seven goals a season.”