NIGEL Worthington insisted his team were not playing for draws after York City shared the spoils for a fifth successive game at Accrington Stanley.

Honours have also now ended even in eight of the Minstermen’s last ten winless matches but City chief Worthington declared that he is not placing a priority on avoiding defeat over claiming maximum points from fixtures.

The Minstermen went ahead at the Crown Ground when Wes Fletcher grabbed his eighth goal of the season from the penalty spot on 35 minutes.

But Stanley levelled through George Bowerman in stoppage time, meaning City have now surrendered 16 points from winning positions this term.

On his team’s current form, Worthington said: “We want to win every game and we are setting out to do that. Hopefully, it will come but all the clubs at this level are fighting for their lives and not giving much away - like ourselves.

“We probably did not play as well as we have been doing at Accrington and they have been on a good run so it was good to pick up a point. We have been playing well and getting points instead of all three but, if we take out on to the pitch what we are working on at the training ground, we will get there and the good side of things is we are not getting beaten.”

City conceded after giving away possession as the interval loomed and that irritated Worthington, who added: “I think Luke O’Neill lost the ball three-quarters of the way up the pitch when we should have been looking to make them turn towards their own goal.”

The Minstermen chief reserved his biggest praise, meanwhile, for the 717-strong contingent of travelling fans, who made up more than a third of the Boxing Day attendance.

Paying tribute to his team’s supporters, Worthington said: “It was a fantastic effort from the York supporters and very much appreciated.

“It was great for them to come and give up their time to support us and, while it was not our best performance over 90 minutes in the last month or so, they at least got a gritty performance from the players.”