YORK City's top scorer Andy Bishop is aiming to secure Conference safety as quickly as possible after surviving a car crash that left him and a female driver both in hopsital.

Bishop has talked for the first time about the accident that saw him miss last weekend's away game at Tamworth and added that he feels the sooner City make relegation an impossibility the better it will be for manager Billy McEwan's preparations next season.

The 22-year-old striker was expected to return to action for today's match at Accrington Stanley and he said: "The Tamworth match was a big game because I think if we had won we would definitely have been safe, the pressure would be off and the manager could have a look at some of our squad players maybe so he can see start building and see what he wants next season.

"If we beat Accrington he might be able to start doing that. It's also important that we get some good results to please the fans between now and the end of the season."

Bishop, who still has another year left on his KitKat Crescent contract, has suffered a little soreness in his back after returning to training.

The ten-goal striker saw the BMW he had bought just the day before written off in the crash but admitted he was just glad that nobody was seriously injured.

He said: "I was driving on to a dual carriageway and a car just pulled straight across to go into the middle lane. I had nowhere to go so it was a full impact because I did not have chance to brake and I went straight into the driver's side.

"It was fortunate that I was only going 30 miles per hour. She had to be cut out of the car and was hysterical so I tried to calm her down and rang for an ambulance and the fire brigade also came.

"She was all right though and after they had dealt with her I was put on a stretcher with a neck brace and was in hospital for six hours. Luckily, it was nothing worse than whiplash.

"I struggled a bit with soreness in the bottom of my back after training last week but it's nothing major. The car's a complete write-off but I was insured and I'm just glad it wasn't more serious."

Since McEwan's arrival, Bishop has been asked to play as a lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation.

The system worked to good effect in the victories over Exeter and Barnet and, although admitting the role requires hard work, Bishop is happy to continue fulfilling it if it benefits the team.

He said: "It's very tough as you have to do a lot more running but it's for the team.

"It was what was needed and we got two good results playing that way. Without those wins, we would still be struggling near the bottom three.

"You just have to be big and strong when you play up there on your own, run about more, win headers and hold the ball up for as long as possible so others can join in."

Updated: 09:29 Monday, March 28, 2005