ALEX Hunt is keen to make sure that York City’s confidence is not knocked despite dropping points to Oldham Athletic earlier today.
York’s run of five victories in a row was halted this afternoon when Oldham came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw, frustratingly scoring the equaliser from a set-piece.
Hunt and his teammates had taken the lead when Joe Felix had met Dan Batty’s pass on the half an hour mark, before floating into space and driving a low strike into the bottom corner from 20-yards.
So for Oldham to come back and claim a point, it’s a frustration for Hunt, who admitted that the dressing room was ‘down and deflated’ after a win for Barnet meant that City need to win their two remaining games and hope that the Bees lose both of theirs in order to win the Vanarama National League title.
“[Frustrating] to say the least,” Hunt told BBC York.
“The boys are feeling it in there, they are down and deflated. We’ve just got to pick ourselves up and go again, because it’s still all to play for.
“When we have a packed out stadium like this, it’s not just the manager to get us up for it, it’s us as players that have got to recognise it ourselves and get a little bit of belief.
“Whether it’s a tackle, a header, a pass, a corner, anything, we’ve got to get the players going a little bit and then we’ll get a buzz from it and kick on.
“I think it’s a testament to us that teams want to come here and make it hard for us to play.
“We’ve come a long way, we’re second in the table and have got to take every game as it comes.
“We’ve got to find ways and means to win games.”
York had conceded from a set-piece when substitute Charlie Raglan had escaped his marker before heading home the all-important goal for Oldham, who all but confirmed their position in the play-offs as a result.
Hunt admitted that it was a ‘frustration’ to concede in such a manner, and also questioned the officiating after believing he had been fouled in the lead up to the corner kick, which was crossed for the Latics goal.
The midfielder continued: “For all of the play that we have had, to go and concede from a set-piece is frustrating.
“I know that the management and Gary Elphick especially spends a lot of time working on it, so us players have got to take responsibility out on the pitch.
“Conceding from a corner is never nice, I actually thought I got fouled in the lead up to their goal because I got dragged down by their man, but I don’t think the ref had the best game today either.”
York now look destined for the play-offs despite their recent rejuvenation, that forced something of a wobble on Barnet’s part and at one point today even had the gap at the top to just two points.
Now that it’s back at six, City are realistically preparing for a home play-off semi-final on Tuesday, May 20, with confidence a key component for Hunt and his teammates.
“We’ve just won five in a row, drawn today, but we go again next week because we’ve got to finish the season as strong as possible.
“Whatever it may be, whether it is automatic or if it is play-offs, we’ve got to finish as strong as possible and playing with confidence and belief.
“I don’t think we can let it [affect confidence] because the games come thick and fast in this league, and we’ve seen it all season, you don’t really get a break.
“You can’t let it knock your confidence, yes you can be disappointed, but you’ve got to go again next week.
“I think we can be confident going into any game, we’re confident that we’ll get the win and as soon as you start letting that confidence creep in, you should start to worry.
“I believe that every game matters, as I said about finding form or going into the play-offs in good form, you’ve got to go out there for 90 minutes and give your all.”
