GRAHAM Heathcote was delighted with a point against York City, even though his side threw away a two-goal second half lead.

Alty had led 2-0 thanks to a Colin Little double before Martyn Woolford struck twice in two minutes midway through the second half to tie things up.

But the Alty boss believes the fact that Alty even took a point against a team who had won their previous seven games away from home showed the extent of their recent transformation.

"I hope people aren't disappointed with a draw against York because that's their 11th game unbeaten so I hope people take the positives out of it," said Heathcote.

"The positives for me were that we were very competitive and we got ourselves two good goals against a decent side.

"Four weeks ago they beat us reasonably comfortably. On Saturday we dug in and got a point.

"We were in a position to take all three but credit to them, they came back and looked really strong in the last 25 minutes.

"Pre-Christmas we would have lost that game, I think that's the difference. We didn't lose that game today because we dug in and battled."

Heathcote is also confident his side can avoid the drop if they continue to perform at the level shown against York.

"People have seen an Alty performance that was full of pride and energy and showed everyone that we'll do our utmost to get the results we'll need.

"The whole 14 that went out gave their all and that's all we ever ask. But that has to continue and there's no reason why it won't continue.

"The bottom line is the boys are working hard, they've trained hard all week and brought that into the game to get a result.

"If we perform to that level against all the sides in this league we'll have a good chance of doing what we want to do. What we can't afford is days off."