UNDER-FIRE York City boss Russ Wilcox admitted his side were “in a mess” after they crashed to a 3-1 defeat at Barnet.

A sizeable group of travelling supporters called for Wilcox to be dismissed after the defeat at the Hive left York just three points clear of the relegation zone in the bottom half of League Two.

Michael Coulson’s 80th-minute equaliser looked to have lifted some of the pressure off Wilcox, with the forward cancelling out John Akinde’s opening goal for Barnet.

But the hosts struck twice in the final eight minutes through ex-York striker Michael Gash and Josh Clarke to leave Wilcox bemoaning his side’s struggles.

“It was unacceptable,” admitted the embattled boss, whose position could be decided by this week’s home games with Dagenham & Redbridge and AFC Wimbledon. “The performance was nowhere near good enough, and I feel for the fans because they paid good money to travel down and got behind the team from the first to last minute.

“I’m not going to point fingers in public or single anybody out because that has to be done behind closed doors, but this is a really difficult period.  We were playing a struggling side who had lost their last three games, and you have to win these games if you’re going to get into that top half of the table.

“We’re in a mess at the wrong end of the table, and it’s my responsibility to get us out of it. The players have to take ownership of the situation and look at themselves as individuals as well though, because we win together and lose together.”

York: Flinders, McCoy, Lowe, McCombe, Ilesanmi, Collins, Penn (Sinclair 10), Berrett, Coulson, Oliver (Turner 79), Straker.