YORK City boss Russ Wilcox is eyeing up a top-half finish in 2015/16 – but the first target for his team is to reach 50 points.

The Minstermen staved off the threat of relegation with three Sky Bet League Two fixtures left to play last term and ended the season on 52 points.

Wilcox has insisted his side must avoid a similar campaign this time around, while stressing that the half-century haul – traditionally regarded as the safety valve in terms of preserving a club's Football League status – remains the most-important priority.

City's opponents Wycombe Wanderers set the same goal this time last year before embarking on a campaign that saw them narrowly miss out on automatic promotion and then lose to Southend in the play-off final.

Underlining his ambitions for the next nine months, the Minstermen chief said: "I've told the lads that we want to be at the top end of the table because there's no better feeling than that.

"I've experienced it myself and so have my staff and a lot of the players. We've also experienced the other side last season and we certainly don't want that again because, let's be honest, that was horrible for everybody at the football club, not just the players.

"We want to make the city proud and we can do. We're not looking to just finish higher than last season – we need to challenge ourselves.

"We're hoping to be in that top half and we've shown at stages in pre-season that there's enough quality to do that."

Stressing his initial aim, Wilcox added: "For most clubs, and everyone in a similar situation to us, the first port of call is getting to 50 points.

"That's not me being negative. Wycombe set that target last season and got there three months before they had done the one before when they only stayed up on goal difference.

"Once you reach that magical mark, you're then hoping you've got a dozen games left to push for that top half and beyond and we'll go into the season full of optimism because you have to.

"We've had a blip at Halifax but, in sport, you have to deal with the lows and turn them into highs, which we will be aiming to do at Wycombe."