ANDY Preece believes his young guns deserved better as Worcester City -- sporting their new kit for next season -- crashed 1-0 to Barrow in Nationwide North.

Worcester-born glamour model Natalie Denning dropped in at St George's Lane to launch the club's strip, but it failed to inspire City as Gavin Knight's deflected strike stole the honours for the Cumbrians.

It was City's second consecutive defeat following the crunch 2-0 loss at Altrincham last Tuesday which ended their slim play-off hopes.

However, Saturday's fixture provided player-manager Preece with the ideal opportunity to hand first-team starts to young fringe players Lewis Skyers, Liam McDonald and Dan Parker.

Preece said: "The lads that came in did OK. I can't really have complaints from any of them. Lewis did particularly well and dealt with everything that came his way.

"It was an important game for the younger players be-cause they want the chance to prove themselves.

"We were on top in the first-half. I was really happy with the first-half performance and we probably deserved better. We created lots of chances, but did not take any of them.

"Barrow scored a goal out of nothing and that was disappointing. It came from a throw-in which we did not defend well."