City are strong enough to ride the body blow of losing three key defensive players.

Phil Parkinson’s patched-up side face a critical trip to Plymouth tomorrow minus their regular centre halves and first-choice goalkeeper.

But John Hendrie insists that the show must go on against another of their relegation rivals – and he does not fear for City’s long-term survival chances.

T&A columnist Hendrie reckons a side minus Jon McLaughlin, Luke Oliver and Andrew Davies can still pull themselves clear of trouble.

The former City winger said: “Phil’s got to pick the boys up and regroup and only time will tell if this knocks the stuffing out of them.

“But I still say that the team now, even with other players coming in, is better than what the other sides down there have got. There’s enough there.

“The other night was dire, so let’s put it to bed and forget what happened. We’re without three players but Phil has still got more than enough in his squad.

“The door’s open for someone else. They’ve got Lee Bullock who’s played at centre back and Guy Branston is waiting on the sidelines.

“Rob Kozluk’s there and Simon Ramsden so, there are more than enough bodies to restructure. We’ve still got players there who have played at this level and above.

“It’s not as if City have to win all the remaining seven games for promotion. You just inch yourself towards safety.

“It’s a challenge but that’s better than playing in mid-table when it doesn’t really matter. Do you fear it or do you embrace it?”

For Hendrie, the post-match barny against Crawley was a flashback to his City heyday in the mid-1980s alongside Bobby Campbell.

He said: “Those incidents were ten a penny in the days of big Bobby. But you could get away with it because there weren’t cameras at every single game.

“I remember once playing Wimbledon’s old Crazy Gang at Odsal and turning round to see their midfielder Carlton Fairweather lying sparko on the halfway line.

“Campbell had just given him one and nobody saw it! But he didn’t get in any trouble because there was no proof.

“Now it’s all under scrutiny. You can’t even pick your nose without getting caught on camera.”

Though shocked by the extent of the melee, Hendrie was not entirely surprised that trouble did eventually break out.

He said: “There was a nasty undercurrent all night. It was probably one of the worst games I’ve seen down there. It was niggly and Crawley were using any little trick they could get away with.

“They were time-wasting from the first five minutes and there were a lot of snidey little things that wind players up, a lot of grabbing and elbows flying. Imagine watching that every week. That will get the game killed.

“Then you see the antics of the Crawley coaching staff acting provocatively and winding people up. Everything that’s bad about football was evident.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen Crawley live and it left a sour taste in the mouth. There were a lot of kids there and these players and coaches are meant to be role models. What good does that do for our game? It’s disgraceful.”