JOHN Coleman has warned his Stanley players that doomed York City could still spring a shock have a surprise up their sleeve when they arrive at the Wham Stadium tomorrow.

The Minstermen are heading for the Conference, even though they do have a slim mathematical chances of overhauling a nine-point deficit and inferior goal difference on Newport.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Anything other than a victory for Jackie McNamara’s side in East Lancashire, and a defeat for the Welshmen at Luton, will confirm their slide out of the Football League, meaning 500 Minstermen fans are expected to make the trip.

But York stunned play-off contenders Portsmouth 3-1 on Tuesday night and Coleman knows the Reds will have to maintain their focus to strengthen their grip on second spot and make a leap in the opposite direction.

He said: “It’s a difficult game for us in the fact that the last three games are going to be difficult psychologically, but every game you play in this league you expect it to be tough.

“We has It was the same last Saturday against Morecambe, which was a game we could have won and we should have won, but we never really hit the heights.

“So that should serve as a warning shot across the bows.

“But you can’t govern what’s going to happen on a football pitch, you need a bit of luck along the way.

“The standards that we’ve set, we have to try to reach them or get close to them.

“If we do that we’ve got a good chance of winning not just against York, but against any team in the league.

He added: “York’s result in the week shocked everybody, me included.

“A lot of teams in this league have been victims of bad luck and that’s certainly been the case with York. They have got players who can hurt you on the day and we’ve got to be mindful of them. I think they will come and have a go.

“What we’ve got to try to do is get them on the back foot as quickly as possible.”

Coleman doesn’t think it’s all doom and gloom for tomorrow’s opponents, however, adding: “It’s like death and taxes — teams go up and teams go down.

“But it doesn’t necessary have to be the end for teams going down. Cheltenham have proved that you can lose your place and quickly get back into it.

“York are a massive and well-supported club and they have got the basis of good players, so there’s no reason why they can’t bounce back if they do go down.

“We’ve had some cracking games here against them and the atmosphere has been electric, even going back to the Conference days, and I hope it’s the same on Saturday.”