NEAL ARDLEY is eager to combat the wind and to see his York City players perform to a high standard in Tuesday night's match away to Oxford City (7.45pm).

York will make the trip into Oxford to face the second-bottom side, who have suffered six defeats in their last seven matches, with Ardley keen to see the extended period of training pay off.

It's City's first match in 16 days after postponements against Dorking Wanderers and AFC Fylde, allowing Ardley some extra time with his players on the training pitch, but the York boss won't be expecting complacency against a side that have struggled for form as of late.

“We have to play under head height, I think that’s the only way to do it," Ardley explained.

"We trained today and it was windy, I can’t put a training session or have a tactical element to counteract the wind, that’s just something that we’re going to have to try and manage on the day.

"Both teams have to manage it, and sometimes one team manages it better than the other.

"We’ll pick the team that know what we need to do and the level of performance that we need, and we’ll factor in the wind and use that to our advantage, or make sure that it’s not to our disadvantage.

“You don’t want to try and change the whole game plan because of the wind, you’ve just got to manage it however you can.

"We respect all of the opposition and how they play, but for me it’s about the level of performance that we need.

"The energy we need, the aggression we need, the compactness, the team ethic, the spirit, if we can get those things right then you give yourself a great chance of getting a result. That’s really what we focus on.

“I think that their manager has done an exceptional job including last season, I know Justin (Merritt, Oxford City Director of Football) well, who does a lot and runs the club in a Director of Football type role.

"For their budget and for where they are, they have done an incredible job and I have a lot of respect for them.

"I think that they are a slightly different animal at home and I’ve watched a lot of their home and away games, the away games have been a little bit tougher for them.

"But at home they know their pitch well with it being 3G, and they put it on teams aggressively and can cause teams problems.

"I don’t think that any game is easy and I don’t think that we’re strong enough to think that any game is easy.

“If we’re not at it and aren’t doing all of the good habits that we’ve done over the course of the last month or so, then we’ll be out of this game before its started.

"Oxford have beat Boreham Wood 4-0 at home, they beat somebody else 4-2 and they have walloped some teams.

"I think that they will want to have the ball, they’ll be confident on their pitch and they’ll see this as a game that they can win.

"We’ve got to make sure that when they come off the pitch, they’ll think about how tough of a match it was."

Ardley also confessed the respect he has for Oxford manager Ross Jenkins, describing City's opponents as an 'amazing club' after their unexpected promotion from the Vanarama National League South last season.

“Ross had been at Watford as well, he wasn’t there at the same time as I was a player, but he came into our office after the last game and we had a good half-an-hour together and a beer.

"He’s done an amazing job and it’s an amazing club, I know Justin Merritt there who has also done an amazing job.

"I like stories like that, the Dorking stories, and it’s great with their ambition and the work that they have done at that club.

"I hope he goes onto bigger and better things, but at the minute he’s got to keep doing the job he’s done at Oxford."