ASSISTANT manager Stuart Parnaby has insisted York City are still targeting the National League North title.

The Minstermen currently lie in eighth place - 11 points behind top-of-the-table Chorley.

But, with 30 fixtures left to play, Parnaby feels automatic promotion is still achievable and wants the team to underline their championship credentials with a strong run of consecutive triumphs.

The ex-Middlesbrough defender, who was appointed new manager Sam Collins’ permanent number two last week, declared: “Everybody here knows how big the club and its fanbase is and what better way to move into a new stadium than winning promotion?

“Speaking to everybody, that has to be the aim and no less. I know transition can be hard but, with the lads we’ve got and ones we’d maybe look to bring in, we’ve got to look at going up.

“We can’t think we’ll be alright for another year and we’ve got to look at how many games we can win and we’re still looking at automatic promotion. Why not?

“Chorley are on fire, but we had chances to beat them on the opening day and, if we can go on a run of five or six wins, we’ll be right up there and we need a consistency in our performance to achieve that.”

Parnaby, meanwhile, believes Collins is now proving he has the necessary personality to succeed as a manager, following three previous temporary tenures at Hartlepool – the last of which also saw the pair work together.

“I can see a difference in Sam now,” Parnaby said. “You can see the progression as a coach and manager.

"He might have said he was ready before but, to be brutally honest, now is his time and I think he’s showing that, because he’s making the big decisions you have to do as a manager. You’ve got to have some balls to take somebody off after half-an-hour, but he did that at Southport and it was the right call because the shape had to be changed.

"The alternative was leaving it another five minutes and conceding another goal.”