Zavon Hines reckons City can go up this season – and do it as League Two champions.

As the campaign reaches the halfway point, Hines is confident Phil Parkinson’s squad pack enough punch to maintain a successful promotion campaign and top the pile in the process.

City head into the frenetic holiday period in fifth spot and nine points adrift of long-time leaders Gillingham. The same gap the other way separates 12 sides in the congested division but Hines only has sights upwards.

The tricky winger said: “It’s a competitive league and there are a couple of good teams but we should definitely be up there.

“I personally think we’re probably the best team. Some might call me arrogant but that is my honest opinion. I’m just confident in my team-mates and what we can do by the end of the season.

“Gillingham have had a good start but I think we can catch them. They’ve slowed down with a few defeats and draws.

“When I first signed, I was on the bench for that game against them and didn’t think they were any better. They got quite a lucky first goal and pushed on from there.

“But they can be caught. Our squad is good enough and, fingers crossed, there’ll be no more injuries so we’ll be at full strength by the end of the season.

“We’ve worked hard so far and if we’re not up there, we should be disappointed.

“We’ve just got to focus on the job in hand and concentrate on every little detail that we’ve got to do.”

Hines returned from a seven-game absence to come off the bench at Southend. And he followed that up with 67 minutes in the FA Cup loss to Brentford.

Tomorrow’s trip to Wycombe, where City will be backed by up to 2,000 away fans, kicks off a crucial spell of four league games in ten days. The table could look significantly different by the time they have faced Morecambe on New Year’s Day.

Hines added: “It’s busy but we’re used to playing a lot of games this season.

“The gaffer has got his plan for what he’s got to do over this period to maintain our form and keep us up there in the league.

“A lot of it is down to the mental side as well. Lose a couple of games and we could be in mid-table but we’re not thinking like that.

“We know what we want to achieve and this period of the season can help us understand where we’re going to be towards the end of the season.

“It’s quite tight up there and if a few results went our way previously we’d be in the top three.

“I personally think we’ve been unlucky in a few games where we’ve lost or drew. Look back to Port Vale at home when we outplayed them all game but still lost.”

With Kyel Reid also making his comeback at Griffin Park, City are getting their big weapons back for the second half of the campaign. Key centre half Andrew Davies could also be back on the field in February.

City have still maintained their challenge on league and cup fronts and Hines insists Parkinson and his coaching team deserve the praise for balancing the resources so effectively.

“A lot of credit must go to the staff for managing the players properly. They’ve been in football and know how the body works, which helps us a lot.

“People not in the game pre-judge and don’t know the real effort that we have to put in, especially when there are so many matches Saturday and Tuesday. But the players have coped with it well.

“Most of our games recently have been away as well. You travel long distances and that contributes to your body as well.

“But the sports science in this club is very good. When we have days off, we’re advised to do certain things which help us to recover.

“The set-up might surprise other players but not me. I’ve heard for years about Bradford being a big club and it’s not surprising that they’ve got Championship standard staff.

“I just love playing for this club. I missed not being in the team but now I’m back and feeling sharp and fit and hopefully I can do something good.”