York City assistant manager Darron Gee welcomes home start to new season

The Minstermen will play host to Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday, August 18 as they mark their return to the Football League following an eight-year absence.

Whilst every side hopes for an opening game in front of their own supporters, though, City won more points on the road in the Blue Square Bet Premier during 2011/12.

In fact, the team’s home record was only the eighth-best in the higher echelon of non-League football and Gary Mills’ men only won one of their last five matches on their own turf – against Forest Green in a dead rubber fixture after the club’s play-off place had been secured.

But Gee believes promotion could lead to an upturn in the team’s fortunes at home, where victories were expected and at times demanded in the Conference.

While stressing there would be no change in the squad’s winning mentality, Gee said: “Last season, everybody expected us to win games, especially at home.

“Next season, I don’t think there will be quite as much pressure, especially from the crowd and the players can relax more and express themselves.

“Perhaps the way we play is better suited to away games where we can counter attack. Teams certainly seemed to work out quite quickly last season that, if they came out and played against us, we would get some joy.

“But we want to get our home form right next season because, if you don’t get beaten at home, you’ve got half a chance of doing well.”

Wycombe, relegated after finishing fourth-bottom in League One last season, are likely to arrive in North Yorkshire under new ownership with the Supporters’ Trust currently in the middle of a takeover.

The club are already the only one in League football who will operate without a youth structure next season, having scrapped a system that produced the likes of Blackpool winger Matt Phillips and Wolves defender Roger Johnson, which led to the loss of 35 jobs at Adams Park – a ground shared with rugby union outfit London Wasps.

Manager Gary Waddock has not made a single summer signing yet but Ben Strevens, Anthony McNamee, Steve Arnold, John Mooney, John Halls and James Tunnicliffe have all been released.

Former Weymouth striker Stuart Beavon remains as the club’s shining beacon, having netted 25 times in all competitions last season and, despite the team’s travails, finished the campaign as League One’s fourth-highest marksman.

Charlton, Sheffield United and Preston have been linked with the 28-year-old striker, however, so he might have departed before the Chairboys’ trip to Bootham Crescent.

Gee admitted that momentum could play a part in both sides’ starts to the new campaign with Wycombe’s recent fortunes contrasting starkly with the jubilant scenes that greeted the Minstermen’s Wembley double last month.

But Wycombe bounced back at the first attempt following relegation in 2010 and the experienced coach will be discounting any opposition tales of woe when the Minstermen encounter three newly-relegated teams – Wycombe, Chesterfield and Exeter – during the first month of the new campaign.

Gee said: “We will be approaching all the matches with a positive mental attitude as that’s the only way me and Gary know how to manage teams. That’s not to say we will kick off thinking we can waltz the league but every team should set out with the aim of trying to win the title.

“You won’t achieve much if you are talking about just surviving. There’s a lot of tough sides and three of our first six matches will be against teams who have just been relegated so they will be out to make an impression and want to bounce straight back up.”

Following the Wycombe game, City will travel to Morecambe on Tuesday, August 21 and Barnet the following Saturday.

Both finished in the bottom half of the League Two table last term with Barnet only beating the drop on the final day and Gee added: “If we want to do well then, realistically, it’s quite a good start for us in August. We’ve got a good chance of getting results from all three games.”