VICTORY is imperative for York City boss Gary Mills against Torquay at Bootham Crescent today (3pm).

The Minstermen manager has declared how his side “need a win” following a run of six matches without success and wants to end that drought in front of a home crowd.

City last picked up a three-point haul when Jason Walker’s late goal secured a 1-0 triumph at Accrington and, while Mills has been pleased with performances apart from the 3-0 defeat against AFC Wimbledon, he believes it’s key the side get back to winning ways as quickly as possible.

“We need a win, we need a win now,” he explained. “We have gone half a dozen games. I think we’ve only lost once in the League in seven or eight and we need a win. Most of those games have been draws and we need to complement the performances and the run we are on.“Even though we are sitting 15th, it’s such a thin dividing line as to where you go. Three points today could take us up into the top half again and then you are going into a game in hand at Rochdale to even creep up on the edge of the play-offs.”

A home win would be all the more enjoyable for Mills given his team’s struggles in front of their own fans. City have won just two of their nine games on Crescent soil – against Dagenham and Oxford.

With the opportunity to leapfrog Torquay in the table, Mills wants his side to exploit a Gulls outfit without a win in three League games and beaten by Harrogate Town in the FA Cup first round.

He added: “I think they’ve gone on a bad run (since losing to Harrogate) and we’ve got to make sure that we continue their bad run. They are going to want to bounce back, they are going to be hurting about their last few results.

“What I do know is that if we beat them we go above them and that’s a massive incentive. I am confident we can pick up points. There’s no hiding the fact that, points-wise, it hasn’t been good enough at home and we’ve got to start getting points at home.

“That’s how you win Leagues – not away from home. If we could complement our away form with our home form, boy, we’d be top.

“We don’t make it a major crisis. The players don’t and I don’t and we are hoping that turns very quickly – starting today.”

Lee Bullock will remain on loan at Gateshead until January. He will be joined there by Liam Henderson, who will turn out for his home-town club until the new year.