FOOTBALL purist Gary Mills has admitted long throws will continue to be used as a weapon by his York City side after they inspired a vital 3-1 win over Eastleigh.

As a manager, Mills has largely adopted the principles of his former Nottingham Forest boss Brian Clough, but confessed that Vadaine Oliver’s aerial ability has persuaded him to take a more direct route towards goal when appropriate.

Oliver flicked on throws from Sean Newton and Simon Heslop to tee up two goals for fellow striker Jon Parkin during the first 13 minutes against Eastleigh.

He went on to add the third goal after Kyle Letheren’s blunder had seen Ross Stearn reduce the deficit and, about his team’s threat from the touchlines, Mills said: “We don’t really practice throws but, when you’ve got somebody like Vadaine who can get up and flick the ball on, it takes a good centre half to stop him heading the ball.

“I’ve never really had a side that relies on long throws and we don't, but it’s a weapon now we’ve got Vadaine here. I think we’ll probably need to get Hessie in the weights room a bit, so he can just about reach the six-yard box, but Newts can do that.

“It’s nice to get a couple of goals from them and I think we’ve got a couple more from throws recently, so we’ll keep using them because, it doesn’t matter who you play, they can’t stop you throwing the ball in the box or Vadaine jumping for it.”

Oliver only declared himself fit on the day of the game after missing the entire second half of the 1-1 draw with Lincoln last Tuesday because of a dead leg, but Mills was pleased to have him back out on the pitch, adding: “Vadaine got stronger and better as the game went on after struggling with his thigh a bit in the first half and he deserved his goal.

“We left it to him to decide whether he was OK to play. He didn’t train at all after the Lincoln game, but you have to trust your players’ judgement and he was always going to play if he was fit.”

Mills went on to praise all his team for not letting Letheren’s error on the quarter-hour mark take its psychological toll.

“We deserved to win,” the City chief declared. “At 2-0, I thought we’d go on and make it three and keep a clean sheet, but their goal was an absolute mess and gave them a lift.

“The ground went quiet after that and the whole atmosphere around the place changed, but what pleased me is that the players kept going. It could quite easily have affected them because of knowing how important a win was, but there were some excellent performances.

“Then, at 2-1, when their shot hit the post and went across our goal-line and out, I thought it was going to be our day. We also hit the bar and had one cleared off the line, but the relief, when that third goal went in, felt good.”

Letheren completely failed to catch Stearn’s poor inswinging free kick from the left and the ball then bounced in between his legs into the net.

On his keeper’s explanation for the mistake, Mills revealed: “He just said that he completely lost sight of the ball because of the sun.”

The Minstermen boss, meanwhile, praised Asa Hall’s midfield display and Parkin’s reliability in front of goal, as well as Amari Morgan-Smith’s selfless workrate on the left side of a front three, reasoning: “Amari puts in a shift that maybe some strikers wouldn’t, because they see it as taking away their opportunity to get a goal, but he almost got one anyway.”

With one down, Mills also reiterated that his team have the ability to win all of their last 12 league games, having moved up a place to second bottom and closed the gap to safety from eight points to five.

“If we stay fit and focussed, then I know I’ve got a squad capable of winning all our remaining matches,” he argued. “I know football doesn’t work like that, but it’s nice to know that’s the case.

“I’ve never been at the bottom of the table, but it’s been a funny feeling because the dressing room is full of confidence and belief.”