Mills ready to do some wheeling and dealing

The York manager wants to alleviate his goal-scoring concerns with the acquisition of a striker or two, with three of his hitmen on the sidelines nursing injuries.

But he will either have to sell or loan players before he can bring anyone in on short-term or permanent deals.

Not that the man who masterminded a memorable 2012 is complaining about the situation, or fears their season hinges on a prosperous transfer market.

Far from it. But if he cannot strengthen his attacking options then the club’s hopes of a play-off push might be extinguished before it even gets going.

“The situation for me is that in order for there to be some comings, there has to be some goings,” explained Mills, who is without Ashley Chambers, Michael Coulson and Oliver Johnson.

“I’ve got three strikers out of the side but we haven’t got the finances to replace them.

“I’m going to have to wheel and deal to bring people in.

“You’ll get no moaning or arguing about it from me. I work well with the chairman, and I fully understand the situation.”

The gulf in financial clout between clubs in the fourth tier was in evidence last Saturday, when York closed a highly-successful 2012 with a draw at Fleetwood, who they won promotion with last May.

“Financially, we are not in the same league as Fleetwood,” said Mills. “They’re trying to do what Crawley did and they’re up there giving themselves that chance.”

Even without the finances, Mills harbours hopes that if his side can find the right consistency then a place in the top seven is still within the realms of possibility.

“As the manager, my ambition is to get us into the top seven, and that’s not beyond us,” he said.

“If we continue the way we are going then we won’t get into the play-offs because we are not consistently good enough. But if we can start putting back-to-back wins together then we will give ourselves the opportunity to do it.

“The quality is higher in League Two. That’s no detriment to us, I’ve been pleased with parts of our game, disappointed with others.”

Last six games: York LWLWLX; Burton WWDLWW.

Referee: S Dunacn (Northumberland).

Last time: York 1 Burton 3; January 1, 2009; Blue Square Bet Premier.