YORK City boss Gary Mills has insisted his team must emerge from a “relentless” first six weeks of the season in contention at the top of the National League North table.

The Minstermen will have completed 11 games – more than a quarter of their league programme – before mid-September.

In comparison, clubs from the Premier League will have played four fixtures by that stage and Football League outfits seven.

Having been without a midweek match this week, the Minstermen are now preparing for two matches in 48 hours, with Saturday’s trip to Southport followed by a bank-holiday home clash against FC United of Manchester.

Mills’ team currently sit sixth – one position ahead of the final play-off place – with a five-point gap to surprise early leaders Brackley and, on the importance of maintaining a strong level of form during a packed late summer schedule, the City chief said: “We’ve had no game in midweek, but we’ll have another four games in 11 days now and the amount of matches we’re playing early on is relentless, so it’s important we keep picking up as many points as we can.

“For me, we play too many games at this stage of the year and, then, there are no midweek games scheduled for September onwards and I don’t know why that is. We’re in the top seven and five points off the top at the moment and we’ve got to make sure that, after all these games, we’re still in the same position or even better in September.”

Jon Parkin is being earmarked for a return to the squad this weekend if he responds well to a planned return to full training tomorrow, having missed the last three games with a calf problem and Hamza Bencherif is expected to earn an immediate recall after suspension saw him miss the 4-3 victory over Nuneaton when Jassem Sukar deputised.

On Bencherif, Mills added: “He comes into contention. We had three clean sheets in a row with him and Pars (Dan Parslow) and they seemed to be getting together an understanding playing in a back four.”

Mills went on to stress that he expected a strong challenge from third-placed Southport, who are unbeaten and have won four of their first five fixtures.

“I know their manager Alan Lewer very well and he’s brought some good, experienced players in,” Mills pointed out. “They’re looking strong at the moment, so they’ll be full of themselves and it’s always a difficult place to go.

“They haven’t been beaten yet, so it would be nice to become the first team to do that.”

City attacker Louis Almond, meanwhile, will be returning to a club he enjoyed two spells with and Mills is backing the assists ace – he has teed up six goals for team-mates already this term – to get on the scoresheet himself in the near future.

“If he continues playing like he is - creating goals and making things difficult for the opposition - I’m happy with that, but I know the goals will come as well,” the City boss declared.