YORK City manager Gary Mills has admitted that he will crack open the champagne if his team finish the season 17th in the League Two standings.

A run of eight matches without a win has seen the gap between the Minstermen and the bottom two narrow to six points ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Oxford United.

But the former Tamworth and Notts County chief has called for positivity at Bootham Crescent as his team attempt to halt the recent slide.

Mills also denied that he was going through his “toughest time” as a manager.

“I’ve had tougher times and I don’t see sitting 17th in League Two as a tough time after being here two-and-a-half years,” he reasoned. “I’m smiling, we are smiling.

“We’ve had a good week on the training ground and, if we are still sitting in the position we are at the end of the season, I will have a glass of champagne and celebrate us being in League Two next season because that’s massive for this club. It was always going to be difficult and a learning curve this season.

“Just because it hasn’t gone our way over the last few weeks that doesn’t make us a poor side or a bad club. It doesn’t mean we are going to end up in the gutter either.“You have to be positive. It all boils down to whether your glass is half full or half empty.

“Mine’s half full. If other people’s are half empty then they can get on with their lives and I will get on with mine.”

Mills also reiterated his belief that everybody associated at the club needs to “stick together” and added that the players’ self-belief was no cause for concern, saying: “Confidence is fine.

“We’re in a situation where we haven’t won for a few games but we’ve been there before. I’ve been there before and we’ve got to stick together as a football club.

“I’m a football manager and maybe 95 per cent of managers would say that they have gone through a period where the results have not been coming for them. We’ve deserved some wins in this eight-game run but we haven’t got them for whatever reasons.

“We haven’t had any lady luck and haven’t been taking chances but it’s not all been doom and gloom. Last week’s performance wasn’t what we wanted, but I don’t think Barnet were any better than us and we helped them put the ball in our net twice.”

On what was required to get his team back on the winning trail, Mills said: “We’ve just got to keep working hard, put in a good performance and keep believing in our ability to get a result.

“I can’t do anything other than motivate my team to play to the best of their ability. It’s as simple as that.”