YORK City boss Russ Wilcox wants to bring on-loan Middlesbrough teenager Brad Halliday back to Bootham Crescent next season.

The 19-year-old wing-back scored his first senior goal to earn the Minstermen an 85th-minute point during the 1-1 season-ending draw at Portsmouth.

Wilcox reasoned that his equaliser was a “fitting” reward for the Boro youngster’s performances during the 24 appearances he has made since joining the club in mid-December.

Redcar-born Halliday still has two years of his contract left to run at the Riverside but Wilcox would is keen to secure a second loan spell next term.

The City boss said: “It was nice to get the late goal at Portsmouth and very fitting that Brad scored it because he’s been outstanding since coming to us from Middlesbrough. We’ve made inquiries already to get him back next season.

“I’m hoping that can happen, but there might be interest from other parties due to his performances. I don’t want to build him up but he’s come a long way after breaking into the professional game late on.

“He played senior football from the age of 16 with Redcar without doing an apprenticeship and that has helped him develop an aggressive and competitive streak. I think people forget he’s only 19 and he’s played in three different positions for us now.

“He probably had his worst half during the first 45 minutes against Portsmouth but he got a foothold into the game after the break and deserved his goal.”

Fellow loan signing Bobby Olejnik also shone at Fratton Park, making a string of impressive saves having been recalled to the side at the expense of Michael Ingham.

But Wilcox hinted that the Peterborough keeper’s future may lay elsewhere, adding: “Bobby made two or three fantastic saves and he is a top-drawer person.

“People react differently when they get left out of the team but he just works even harder and supports the group. He’s had a bit of criticism but I think people saw again at Portsmouth that he’s a top-class keeper.

“We will have to sit down and see where we go with him in the summer but I’m sure he will have interest from other parties.”

Wilcox suggested, meanwhile, that strengthening down the flanks and in attacking positions will be his biggest priorities over the summer.

Just two minutes before Halliday’s equaliser, Sky Bet League Two’s top marksman Matt Tubbs had broken the deadlock for Pompey and Wilcox is fully aware of the difference a striker of his ilk makes at City’s level.

“We’ll have a look at every position and see what’s required,” he explained. “The pleasing thing is we have a strong spine to the team with the players who are under contract but we might need more in our wide areas and at the top end of the pitch.

“We’ve not scored enough goals and anybody can see that. Strikers like Matt Tubbs can win you tight games by popping up with the kind of finish he did against us.

“I know what I want to do this summer and it’s a matter of finding what’s available in the market. I’ve been doing my homework and there are a few names we’re already looking at, but other teams will also be looking at quality players, so it could depend on finances.

“The chairman’s support is brilliant in that respect but Portsmouth’s wage budget, for example, will probably be double ours.”

Wilcox declined to put a figure on the number of new faces he would like to recruit but admitted he wants to avoid assembling a large squad and that could mean out-of-favour contracted players being placed on the transfer list.

He said: “It’s a bit soon to say how many I would like to bring in and it will depend on who goes out. I prefer to have a close-knit group rather than players sat in the stands unhappy because everybody has to push for the same goal as it’s a team effort.

“I would like a small squad of quality players that can be topped up, if needed, with good loan signings like most of the ones we have brought in this season.”

Wilcox went on to express his pleasure at ending the season on an exciting high following Halliday’s late equaliser at the visitors’ end in front of the biggest crowd the club have played in front of this term.

“It was a good finish to a difficult season and now we can concentrate on moving the club forward,” the Minstermen chief pointed out. “We didn’t want to finish on a big low and scoring that last goal was great because it sent our fans away happy and they were outstanding again at Portsmouth, as they have been all season.

“There was nothing for both teams to play for but I thought it was an exciting game. It might have been a bit nervy at times when we were playing out from the back, but I want the team to play more football.”

Wilcox also stressed that Dave Winfield’s half-time withdrawal was only a precautionary measure, saying: “Dave had some tightness in his thigh and there was no point risking injury.”