YORK City’s Mitch Hancox has acknowledged that, ahead of his side’s clash with Brackley Town, “the pressure is on them”.

York travel to Brackley on Saturday (3pm) for their Vanarama National League North play-off semi-final, just days after beating Chorley 2-1 in the eliminator game.

Town finished as the second-placed side in the division and Hancox addressed that, given their higher position, they will be the team expected to win, despite York having been promotion favourites with bookmakers ahead of this season.

“At the end of the day, the pressure is on them,” he stated.

“They’re the home side, they finished higher in the table. We’ll go there with no fear, we’ll try and attack them.”

“If we keep a clean sheet and nick it 1-0 in the last minute, I don’t care. I don’t care if we play badly and nick it.

“I was ill last time the lads played them, so I missed out.

“They’re rigid, they don’t concede many goals, I think they’re 4-4-2, or 4-4-1-1. They’re solid, they’re well drilled and they’ve got a goal threat.

“We’ll go there full of confidence after the season we’ve had and we’ll try and win.”

Hancox joined York in October, originally on a one-month loan, from Hereford, with whom he signed in the summer ahead of the 2021/22 season.

Since then, the loan has been extended to cover the season and Hancox was recently released by his parent club.

“Obviously, I’ve been let go by Hereford, which I kind of knew was coming,” admitted Hancox.

“It’s football at the end of the day. I signed in the summer with the ambitions of doing well there and it didn’t work out, that’s football, sometimes it doesn’t work out, sometimes it does.

“I got this move here on loan and didn’t start off too great, (I was) probably a bit nervous because I hadn’t played a lot of football.

“It’s turned out to be a brilliant move for myself. I really enjoy it here, I’m having such a great time and the lads are first class.

“It was disappointing back then, but it’s gone now. My full focus now isn’t about my future, it’s about (the game), trying to achieve and trying to get through to the play-off final.”