YORK City manager John Askey insists that his side’s playoff dream is “still in our hands” after City lost 1-0 to Brackley Town on Saturday.

The Minstermen have won only once in their previous seven games, a poor run of form that has seen them fall to ninth in the Vanarama National League North.

Askey, though, is confident that his side still has what it takes to regain their spot within the top seven of the division.

“At the end of the day,” said Askey, “with one or two games in hand, it’s still in our hands.

“You have to start winning games though, it’s as simple as that.

“We have seven games left and we’re going to have to win the majority of them.”

City played in what was a fairly toothless display against Town. Their attack seemed lacking and their defending, especially from set pieces, was poor.

“It was a little bit of both,” enthused Askey when asked whether or not his side’s loss was due to poor defending or a lack of instinct.

“What we have to do is not get too carried away, as I keep saying, we’re not playing against world-beaters.

“We’ve got seven games to go and there’s no reason that we can’t go away and win all seven.

“We have to be better and we have to get back to having better movement when we have the ball.

“We have to be more decisive and perhaps braver in the box.”

Brackley extended their unbeaten run to 17 games with yet another 1-0 win this season.

The scoreline is a testament to their defensive capability, their back line having only conceded 19 goals all season.

“Yeah, we had all of the ball,” answered Askey, discussing if the result was a frustrating one especially given how well York matched Brackley in open play.

“Some good crosses went in, in the second half and we had a couple of chances in the first half. Lenell (John-Lewis) should have scored.

“It’s just frustrating, I’m sure many teams have come here and said the same.

“The way they play, they are set up and they’re hard to beat.”