ADAM Hinshelwood hailed York City's defensive effort at Kidderminster - but insists his side must back up their clean sheet when they head to Altrincham on Tuesday evening (7:45pm).

It was third time lucky for Hinshelwood as he earned the first point of his City tenure with a goalless draw at the Aggborough Stadium.

Both teams were left wanting as they searched for a much-needed victory to move out of the Vanarama National League relegation zone, for although there was plenty of action in front of goal, neither could find a clinical edge in the final third.

But having conceded a combined six goals to fellow strugglers Wealdstone and AFC Fylde over the last week, Hinshelwood was rewarded by a resolute defensive performance.

And the City boss was pleased to have stemmed the flow of goals scored against his side in Worcestershire.

“I think we sured things up defensively,” he admitted. “I thought that the effort was there to defend.

“I think it’s important that we gathered some points today and took something away with us for the confidence of the players. It’s still a bit down in there, but we’ve got something.

“We were looking too open at times, but we’ve come away with that positive in a clean sheet.

“But today means nothing if we don’t back it up. We’ve got to come away from home and make sure we leave with something.”

Centre-backs Callum Howe and Will Smith were at the heart of the Minstermen’s defensive efforts, with Hinshelwood especially pleased with the performances of the pair, alongside fellow defenders Ryan Fallowfield and Paddy McLaughlin.

“I thought we defended with a lot of passion and threw our bodies on the line,” the City boss enthused. “Ryan as well, and Paddy, and Ducky [Michael Duckworth] when he came on.

“And the two central midfielders got through a lot of work, and they looked a bit leggy towards the end.

“The minimum that you’ve got to ask is that determination, that grit and that fight. We’ve got to show that every training session, every game, and the minimum we can ask and the minimum that the supporters want to see.

“That was probably labelled at us a lot on Tuesday and the response we showed was excellent.

“I’m just disappointed that we couldn’t just find that little bit of quality from a set-piece or what we did on the break a few times.”

New signing Leone Gravata was given his first City minutes as a second-half substitute, whilst Quevin Castro was a perhaps surprise inclusion, having not played for the Minstermen since October’s 1-1 draw with Halifax Town.

But whilst his side showed glimpses, they could not quite find the finishing touch against Kidderminster.

“The first two games we conceded so many goals and we weren’t creating enough,” he said.

“We managed to keep a clean sheet and look a bit more solid today.

“But we’ve still got to create a bit more going that way. I thought we got into some good areas and it didn’t quite fall for us, we probably didn’t to have enough conviction at times.

“That’s the next challenge for us, to create a little bit more as well.”