YORK City manager Gary Mills is hoping the club’s Rutland training camp will help raise “togetherness” at Bootham Crescent.
The Minstermen began their five-day trip with Saturday’s 3-1 victory at Quorn and will take on another EvoStik League outift tomorrow night when they travel to Grantham Town.
But Mills believes the periods either side of both games will be just as valuable with the City boss keen to generate a great team spirit before the new Blue Square Bet Premier campaign kicks off at Ebbsfleet on August 13.
He said: “We’re hoping to have a productive five days to give the lads a chance to bond and get to know each other better. You can try to do that at training but they all go home at the end of the sessions.
“Doing something like this is vital for me because it’s about being together for breakfast, lunch and dinner and everything we do this season will be done together.”
Jamie Reed, Lanre Oyebanjo and Jason Walker were on the scoresheet against Quorn and, although Mills felt his team should have enjoyed a greater winning margin, he believed there were mitigating factors behind the final outcome, saying: “The problem with these types of games is you can get a bit sloppy when the pace drops.
“That’s human nature because you’re not playing in front of 5,500 against Sunderland as we were in the previous match. I have to weigh that up, even if I don’t like it because you’ve got to get into good habits not bad ones.
“I would have liked two or three more goals but we’ve also worked hard with four games in eight days and you have to give Quorn some credit as well. They always have a decent, young side and that’s why I like to go there.”
Tony Law opened the scoring after just nine minutes for Saturday’s hosts and Mills also pointed out that experience might prove beneficial for his newly-assembled squad, adding: “We went a goal down and, while I don’t like doing that, it was a good exercise for us in coming back and winning a game even though we were rightly expected to win.”
A spectacular long-range strike by right-back Oyebanjo was the pick of the goals at Quorn and Mills stressed he wants his attack-minded full-backs to be given the licence to roam forward.
He said: “It was a great goal by Lanre and I want my full-backs to play with freedom. They know when to join in and have a crack at goal when the time is right.”
Mills also praised 16-year-old 6ft 4in tall left-back Tom Allen, who made his third senior pre-season appearance as a substitute for James Meredith and has joined the first team for the Rutland break.
The City manager said: “Young Tom has impressed me in training and in the couple of youth team games I’ve watched. He’s willing to learn and he will be around us when I think it’s right.
“With George Purcell leaving, there was one place spare for the training camp and he deserved to come as much as anybody else.”
Left-sided utility man Jamal Fyfield was also unavailable against Quorn, with Mills explaining: “Jamal went over on his ankle in a training match and he couldn’t play.”
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