Mark Bower has been handed the chance to win himself a new contract.

The 21-year-old keeps his place in the middle of City's defence for a potentially bruising afternoon at Rotherham tomorrow.

And Bower - one of seven players whose deals are up in the summer - has the incentive of earning himself a longer stay by stringing together a consistent run of games as the relegation battle heads for its climax.

Andy Myers is hoping to be back for the last couple of games after scans revealed a small tear in his hamstring.

But the onus is on Bower to fill the gap. He responded well to his call-up against Birmingham on Tuesday and now Nicky Law is backing the local boy to carry on the good work at Millmoor.

Law said: "I took a chance with him the other night and I thought he did a good job. His partnership with Gunnar Halle worked quite well.

"I told Mark afterwards that the chance is there. He's got the position and now it's up to him to stay in there for the remainder of the season.

"I really hope it comes to the situation where he plays every game. That would show he's taken his chance and is performing well."

Bower played 36 games in two separate loan spells with York but has hardly had a sniff at Valley Parade since coming through the ranks.

Before Tuesday, his only previous start this season was a Worthington Cup tie at Macclesfield, although he came on as substitute for Peter Atherton at Norwich - and scored a late goal with a deflected block tackle.

Law has slightly more options than midweek with Simon Grayson back from suspension and Ashley Ward hoping to be fit after two games out with a sore ankle.

But Gareth Whalley will be missing with the thigh strain that forced him off before half-time on Tuesday.

Grayson plays the final game of his loan spell from Blackburn. Law may decide to let him go back and look to bolster other areas with another temporary move.

He said: "We lost Gary Locke at Stockport, Myers against Man City and Whalley the other night. We're losing a man a game.

"It's a concern because you need the quality and depth in your squad. It's difficult because we haven't got the numbers to cope.

"But Wardy is improving and hopefully he'll be back. That's a nice problem to have because I think Eoin Jess and Danny Cadamarteri have done quite well up front in the last two games.

"We've missed that aerial threat though that Ward has."