YORK City skipper Russell Penn has admitted the club will be relegated unless they sharpen up in front of goal.

The Minstermen have only mustered one goal in five fixtures since the turn of the year and, in a forthright confession, Penn stressed that he took no satisfaction from a decent display at Southend last weekend as the team went down 1-0.

He has also promised not to spare anybody's feelings if the third-bottom club's fortunes do not improve during the final three months of the campaign, starting with a home match against fellow strugglers Dagenham & Redbridge this weekend.

Pulling few punches, the City captain pointed out: "We've scored one goal in five matches and that's going to take you down at the end of the day. That's just me being honest.

"It's all well and good playing well but, if you're not scoring, you won't get anywhere quick and that's where we are at the moment. We played really well at Southend but that's irrelevant because we haven't picked up any points again.

"I would rather play poorly and win games at this stage of the season. You are hoping that one day we will give somebody a proper thumping but we're not going to play as well as we have done in the last two games every week.

"This is League Two and Saturday's game will be even harder - a real dogfight. Maybe we need that because that's what we are in and we've got 18 games to get ourselves out of it - it's as simple as that.

"We fancy we can beat anybody in this league and have matched Burton and Southend over the last two weeks but only taken one point, so there's the difference. We've got to knuckle down and really focus.

"A few harsh words will be said, if not, because we've got to dig ourselves out of this situation."

Penn also shouldered responsibility for the Southend defeat, having headed wide from four yards with the best opportunity of a one-sided first half.

"I should have scored and totally blame myself for that," he said. "It was a reaction and I put too much power on it really.

"We've got to be scoring them individually and as a team."

After on-loan Middlesbrough teenager Brad Halliday tripped home striker Joe Pigott, Shaq Coulthirst went on to convert an 88th-minute penalty to secure the points for the Shrimpers and goals from that stage of games and later have now cost the Minstermen nine points throughout the season.

That statistic also irks Penn, who added: "I've experienced that kind of thing a couple of times in a season before but not this many times and, at the end of the day, we are responsible for our own downfall. Having played well, when it comes to the last ten minutes at a place like Southend, you look to take a point, but decisions cost us.

"Burton scored a bit of a fluke goal against us late on in the previous match but what happened against Southend could have been avoided. Penalties are given in games and I've conceded them in the past, but we should have done better with the decisions we made before it.

York Press:

HARSH WORDS: Russell Penn has promised to spare no feelings if York City continue on their current run of form

"It's not just a case of moaning at individual players and defenders though. We need to score at the other end and that's down to everyone in the team because that penalty would not have mattered if we had put two or three chances away."

Penn reckons, meanwhile, that this month's fixture programme, which will begin with home games against fellow strugglers Dagenham and Tranmere sandwiching a midweek trip to Luton, could prove pivotal to the side's fortunes.

"It's a massive month and a big chance to put things right," the former Cheltenham midfielder reasoned. "Starting with Dagenham, we've got games Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday, so it's a big week too.

"We need points whether we play badly or well and only we can control that."