Parkinson aiming for Yorkshire hat-trick

The Hampshire side are enduring a miserable time and remained at the foot of League Two after being held to a goalless draw by fellow strugglers Wycombe Wanderers in midweek.

York City and Rotherham United have already won at the Recreation Ground this season and Parkinson believes his players are more than capable of making it a Yorkshire hat-trick today.

The City manager said: “It is another long trip and Aldershot will be scrapping for their lives. They are down at the bottom and that can only have dented their confidence.

“So we have to capitalise on that and start strongly to make sure any confidence they do have ebbs away.”

Aldershot’s stalemate against Wycombe continued a miserable run on home soil for Dean Holdsworth’s men, who have not scored for four consecutive games at the Recreation Ground since beating Barnet in September.

Town have, though, picked up recently to take five points from their last three league games and earn a place in the FA Cup second round by beating Hendon.

For City, the trip south represents a fifth away game in their last six outings.

The heavy schedule caused by Bradford’s Cup exploits has meant Parkinson being forced into careful managing of his resources.

He added: “We have to look at it on a game-by-game basis. There are one or two niggling injuries in the squad but nothing serious in terms of who featured against Chesterfield on Tuesday.

“The key thing during a run of games like this is to try and keep the lads fresh. Those who played on Tuesday had an extra day off, for instance.”

James Hanson is again struggling to be fit with the virus that kept the big striker out of the goalless draw with Chesterfield.

Parkinson said: “We have kept James away from the rest of the lads this week because we didn’t want to risk it spreading.

“Of course, a team is always going to miss someone like James because of what he brings to the team.

“But if he doesn’t make Aldershot, I’d imagine he’ll be fine for the Cup replay on Tuesday.”