CAPTAIN Chris Smith has insisted York City will not be playing for a draw at Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday.

The Minstermen only require a point at Victoria Road from the last game of the season to secure their Football League status.

Hosts Dagenham, though, need a victory to guarantee their safety and Smith believes City must have a winning mindset on their arrival in East London.

The 31-year-old skipper also reckons that the visitors will face a similar challenge to that they encountered during Saturday’s 2-1 home win over Southend and must adopt the same approach that has rewarded the team with a return of 11 points from a possible 15 during their last five matches.

He said: “The gaffer won’t let us try and settle for a 0-0 or a draw and I think Saturday will be a bit like the Southend match.

“It will be a hot day and a dry, bobbly pitch. We knew on Saturday that Southend would come at us because they are a good side who still had an opportunity to make the play-offs and, in those situations, it comes down to who wants it more and we showed that we did.

“Every man, even those who only came on for the last four or five minutes, played their part in a good, all-round performance.

“Now we just need to take that form into Saturday’s game and be confident that we can go to Dagenham and beat them.”

Smith added that last Saturday’s results, when Wimbledon recovered from trailing 2-0 to earn a point at champions Gillingham and keep City in the dogfight, suggest that the Bootham Crescent club cannot count on the Wombles and Barnet failing to get results in their final matches against Fleetwood and Northampton respectively.

If City lose and Barnet get at least a point at Northampton, while Wimbledon win at home to Fleetwood, then Nigel Worthington’s men will be relegated,and Smith said: “I will be honest, after winning on Saturday, we came in and were a bit deflated having heard the other results.

“The atmosphere was a bit cagey because we have been showing championship form in the last five games so, for us still not to be out of it, was a bit disappointing.

“When we were on 40 points, we got together and said 50 gets you clear. Well, clearly, it doesn’t and 52 doesn’t either but the good thing is it’s in our own hands and we are not relying on anybody else.”

Smith is also hoping for no more stoppage-time scares, having cleared two efforts off the line against Southend at the death, shortly after seeing a Gavin Tomlin effort ruled out for offside.

On those incidents, the former Tamworth and Mansfield centre-back added: “For the one that was offside, I didn’t even know that Tomlin was there to be honest and I thought the other player’s header was going wide so my instant reaction was that he had to be off, because I could not see how he could have got there that quickly otherwise.

“Jack O’Connell then said he was a good two yards offside and I’m glad the linesman spotted it because that would have deflated us totally and I don’t know how we would have reacted to that.

“But with the right decision made and a bit of luck, I thought we hung on well.”

Added the Minstermen skipper: “For the clearances, I quite often try to protect the goal-line when it looks like a player is going to shoot instead of squaring the ball to my man.

“Inghy (goalkeeper Michael Ingham, pictured above) got a bit on the first one to take the power off the shot and I just cleared it.

“Then, when it came back, I was in a good position although, when Inghy got a touch this time, it nearly hit my arm but, luckily, it struck my knee instead and Jack (O’Connell) did well to clear it away.

“In those situations, it’s just a case of getting on the goal-line and helping Inghy out.”