YORK boss Jackie McNamara has backed Scott Flinders despite the goalkeeper making two costly errors in the Minstermen’s 3-1 defeat at Cambridge United.

Flinders, who made more than 250 appearances for Hartlepool United prior to joining York last summer, misjudged a tenth-minute cross to enable Jimmy Spencer to open the scoring with a header.

Josh Coulson’s volley doubled Cambridge’s advantage, and while James Berrett pulled a goal back for the visitors, Flinders’ second blunder of the afternoon effectively sealed his side’s fate.

Flinders spilled Spencer’s driven shot, with Ben Williamson scoring from the rebound, and while Luke Perry failed to find the target with a late penalty for Cambridge, the defeat leaves York just one points above the League Two relegation zone.

“It wasn’t his (Flinders) best performance, but you could say that about a good number of players,” said McNamara. “He’s human, and he made a couple of errors that proved costly, but since I’ve been manager, he’s saved us more times than not.

“He’s had much better days, but he’ll learn from this experience and be ready for Northampton.”

Flinders will have to be in better form when Northampton visit Bootham Crescent tomorrow, with the Cobblers sitting at the top of the table after claiming a ninth successive league win when they beat Wycombe at the weekend.

“We didn’t have a real physical presence up front, and the service up to there wasn’t good enough either,” added McNamara. “Some of our decision making also put us under pressure, but we must learn from this game and get ready for Northampton next.”

York: Flinders, Satka, Cameron, Winfield, Ilesanmi, Summerfield, Penn (Carson 79), McEvoy (Hyde 62), Berrett, Coulson, Fewster (Thompson 77).