Brass High

The 26-year-old midfielder-cum-defender has acclaimed the camaraderie in the Minstermen squad and has called on the supporters to add to that and help bring the good times back to Bootham Crescent.

With City boss Terry Dolan initiating a summer clear-out at the Crescent and with new club sponsors - the Evening Press - on board, the Minstermen go into the new Division Three campaign with a new look about them, including a brand new strip.

And in an exclusive pre-season interview with the Evening Press, Brass believes that the growing togetherness in the camp can only lead the club to a brighter future. And he knows that City's superb supporters can play their part.

"It's been quite frustrating for them over the last couple of seasons, but I think we're on the road to recovery," said the former Burnley captain.

"The fans saw in the latter part of last season that the players that have been brought in were striving for success.

"It's going to be hard work and there are going to be times when they're frustrated just as we will be, but if they get behind us 100 per cent from the start it will give us a boost and hopefully we will give them more to shout about this year than last."

Significantly, Brass - who came to the club on a free transfer from Turf Moor in March and was confirmed a club captain this summer - does not believe there are any main men in the Bootham Crescent line-up this year, saying that the team spirit in the camp is set to be the biggest player.

"The best thing about York City this year is that there is no one individual who we will be relying on," he said.

"We've got good players and a good team spirit within the full first-team squad.

"There is no back-biting going on behind the lines which sometimes happens in football clubs.

"Everybody is pulling together.

"We've now got to take that team spirit on to the pitch as it always brings results."

The Easington-born battler feels Division Three is wide open this season, with City's opening opponents, Rushden and Diamonds, likely to shock a few teams in their first season in the Football League following promotion from the Conference.

"I think the teams that have come down - Oxford, Bristol Rovers, Luton and Swansea - would normally be expected to be there or thereabouts as they have squads which arguably should be good enough for Division Two, but I don't think anyone sticks out as promotion definites," he said.

"Rushden are unknown but have a lot of money so you could expect them to cause an upset somewhere along the line.

"But we won't be going into games fearing anyone.

"I think sometimes the fear factor takes over before teams have even kicked a ball so it would be nice to get a good start and put the fear factor into other teams.

"Indeed, we saw at the end of last season when we had a good run that other teams started to fear us and weren't keen to face us."

As for City's campaign, he added: "It might sound like a clich but I think we've got to go along the lines of taking each game as it comes. We're not setting ourselves a target other than getting three points against Rushden on August 11.

"However, getting promotion is realistic. Although every team goes into the season wanting success, the group of players here have the potential to gain promotion.

"We've worked hard over pre-season and hopefully it will bear fruit in results throughout the year.

"It will be very disappointing if we don't improve on last year - that's our main aim. The lads are starting to gel and hopefully we will benefit from that.

"There's always something round the corner but if we can do our job against Rushden we'll then be concentrating for the following Saturday's match at Torquay. That's the way we're going to take things."