ADAM HINSHELWOOD is not surprised to see Yeovil Town pushing for the play-offs in their first season back in the National League.

After lifting the National League South title last season, Yeovil have gone from strength to strength in the National League, and currently find themselves just just one point shy of the play-off places.

Hinshelwood admitted that he was not surprised to see Mark Cooper’s side performing so well, having locked horns with Yeovil last season as Worthing manager, and has made it clear that York City must perform to a high standard to take anything from Saturday’s match at the LNER Community Stadium (3pm).

“They had a team that had a lot of experience, a lot of knowhow and have a manager of the same ilk as well,” Hinshelwood told BBC York.

“I’m not really surprised of where they are, I’m sure that they will be keen to put a good campaign together and get as close to the play-offs as they can.

“I think that will be their aim this season and they’re on course to do that.

“It’s important for us to put that gap between ourselves and those chasing the play-offs, because you know how tough these games are.

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“A lot of the teams at this level are a similar sort of standard really, we’ve certainly got to perform better in the second-half as we became unstuck.

“That’s our challenge, we’ll focus on ourselves like we always do and what we can improve on.

“We respect every opposition that we come up against in this league, we don’t get ahead of ourselves as there are no easy games.”

Hinshelwood also spoke on his relationship with Cooper, having shared the touchline with the Glovers’ manager last campaign.

He told the Press: “He’s always been very good to me, I spoke to him at length before the home game last year, I missed the away game with Yeovil last year.

“I saw him at the home game and it was the first time that I have come up against him or spoken to him, and he seemed like a good guy who knows his stuff.

“He gets his teams well organised, well-drilled and tough to play against.

“They’ve got some firepower as well.

“I played against them a few times last year in the National League South, they are one of those really experienced teams.

“They don’t give too much away and are a tough team to play against, so we’re expecting a difficult afternoon.

“We’re trying to focus on our attributes and what we can do well, how we can influence the game.

“If we can do that, then we will be a good test for them as well.”

Despite having Aaron Jarvis as their top goalscorer for the season so far, Yeovil also possess the likes of Brett McGavin and Sonny Lo-Everton, who have contributed goals from midfield this campaign.

Hinhelwood admitted that it is a quality that every team needs to have, to not just rely on one goalscorer, and how it was a common theme in the National League.

“It’s so important to have that, obviously you can’t just deal with one player, you’ve got to be alert to set-pieces and everything.

“It’s like a lot of teams, I think this season, goals are coming from far and wide.

“There are different ways to score and set-pieces are big in the National League, so we’ve got to be at our best there.

“It’s a game that we’ll look forward to try and implement our game plan as well.”