ANDY Morrison hated losing as a player and nothing much has changed now he's in the St George's Lane dug-out.

The former tough-guy defender is a stickler for clean sheets, discipline and organisation, so expect to see Worcester City labelled the stingiest side in Nationwide North in no time at all.

Assistant manager Morrison's influence on the training ground has already borne fruit, City registering three consecutive shut-outs much to the relief of supporters sweating over a relegation battle.

The 34-year-old Scot, nicknamed 'Jock' by colleagues, is unashamed to admit that his strength lies in fashioning a rock-solid defensive unit, thereby providing a perfect foil for player-manager and striker Andy Preece.

"We are a bit different to each other," admits Morrison. "I'm very, very defensively minded as a coach. That's the way I've been. For me, I was never concerned about winning.

"As a player, all I was worried about was not losing. I don't like losing games. If your discipline is right, you can then rely on a bit of quality or luck to get you a goal or two.

"We have to make sure we are keeping clean sheets. The teams with the best defensive record win league titles and get promoted, that's the same for any league.

"I've got my own ideas on coaching the side on the defensive side of things and I'll put them across. We'll look at the other side, creating things in the opposition's half, but the first thing has to be sorting it out defensively.

"We've now got a system and shape that is hard to break down. Before I came here, I went to the games at Harrogate and Worksop and we looked vulnerable.

"But now we've managed a couple of wins and draw with three clean sheets. It means we are going in the right direction. The players deserve the credit for that."

Inverness-born Morrison made over 300 Football League appearances, with spells at Plymouth, Huddersfield and most notably Manchester City, but hung up his boots in the summer of 2002 following a serious knee injury.

He was recruited by close friend Preece at Bury, where he eventually managed the reserves, before coaching Manchester City's U17 academy side.

Morrison's tenure at the Premiership club has ended, leaving him to concentrate on City and his separate personal trainers job at his North West base.

He added: "I've been coaching at all levels, wherever I've been. It's something I've always aspired to do. I've got my UEFA 'B' coaching badge and I've started the 'A' licence. Hopefully, I will finish it this summer.

"My role here is labelled assistant manager, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm the coach. Mainly, I'll be taking training, assessing players' fitness and working on improving everyone's game.

"I'm already enjoying it at Worcester. I didn't know too much about the club beforehand, but I've quickly learned how big it could be.

"There is no reason why we shouldn't be on a higher stage. It is well run and the players are spoilt rotten. Everything is in place, the potential is high and we can draw in big crowds."