YORK City remain without midfielder Olly Dyson through illness ahead of tomorrow afternoon's home clash with Maidstone United (3pm).

Dyson missed both of York's festive meetings with Gateshead - the 3-0 home defeat and the 2-2 draw in the North East - due to flu.

David Webb expressed his hope that Dyson would return for this weekend, speaking after Monday's 2-2 draw at the Gateshead International Stadium.

But the manager has since confirmed: “Olly has still got a sort of fever and flu symptoms.

"We’ve been speaking to him everyday and he hasn’t trained this week so unfortunately he’s not going to be available for selection.

“Olly is a player I know well from Huddersfield (Town)", where Webb served as director of head football operations from 2019 to 2021.

"He came through the youth academy there, so I’ve watched him sort of progress into different positions and he’s grown as a player. He’ll be a big miss for us.”

There is better news on left-back Alex Whittle, who is back after a knock also saw him miss both clashes with Gateshead over the Christmas period.

“Alex is available for selection, he’s trained well this week.” Webb confirmed.

The City boss remains without winger Maziar Kouhyar (abductor), Luke James and Gus Mafuta (both calf).

James is expected to be available next week while Mafuta is another two to three weeks away from a return.

Shaq Forde was the late hero for York against Gateshead, as the Watford loanee scored in the final minute of normal time on his debut to earn the Minstermen a valuable point. Webb hinted that a first start awaits this weekend.

Webb said: “Shaq will be fully involved. I don’t want to give away too much on the team at the minute but Shaq has had enough of good week’s training on his belt and he’s looked sharp.

“He does what we brought him in to do, he’s scoring great goals and hopefully he can take that forward into the game."

Following Forde’s arrival and the squad looking thin through injuries at present, supporters remain eager to see new arrivals.

“I think we’ve always got an eye out, but it’s an eye for the right players,” Webb claimed.

“I used to do my homework on players so there would be two reasons why we’d do it.

"If we think they can improve the group with a bit more quality in whatever position it is, and obviously the right character for York City because we’ve got a really good dressing room. The lads are really upbeat.”

With the Sky Bet Football League January transfer window now in full swing, Webb was quick to deny of any transfer outgoings for the time being.

“Not imminently, but obviously things can change quite quickly," Webb assured. "But there is nobody imminently out of the doors within the next few days.

“I’ve had a good chat with Ryan (Whitley) and we’ve agreed with him that we are looking for a suitable loan for him, and I think it’s important for him because we see him as a big part of our future. We’d be quite happy for him to go out on loan.”

Webb also praised midfielder Mitch Hancox, who scored the first City goal against Gateshead with a brilliant chip over the goalkeeper.

“Mitch has done very well since I came in, he’s a leader, he’s a character,” enthused Webb.

“I’ve known Mitch for a long time as a player when he coming through from Birmingham (City), from when I was at (AFC) Bournemouth we were quite interested in him back then.

"I’ve followed his career path and he’ll play a big part for us going forward.”