A NEVER-say-die attitude reaped rewards on Saturday with a dramatic late win against Eastbourne.

There wasn't a huge amount of quality in our football but I've never doubted the players commitment and we stuck at it right to the end.

It is easy to jump on the bandwagon and condemn us for not playing well but before anybody gets too critical let's just look at a few facts.

First we had a young keeper making his home debut with no experience behind him. We were also without any full backs due to Allan Davies, Paul Carty and Shabir Khan being ruled out through injury and suspension, and were forced to play Liam McDonald in an unfamiliar role.

In addition a lot of the players are running on empty and a few knocks and strains are starting to catch up with the players. Carl Heeley, who did brilliantly to get the winner against Eastbourne, is a case in point.

Carl looked tired, he's not 100 per cent fit which is why we want a bigger squad so we don't have to squeeze every drop out of the Carl Heeleys at the end of a season.

Eastbourne were a decent side and, on a lively pitch, it was a difficult game but people don't see it like that. If you win it's only an end of season game but if you lose it's a catastrophe. There's no middle ground here!

On Saturday though we kept plugging away and at the death Jai Stanley suddenly pulled out the cross of the season for Barry Woolley to equalise before another good delivery by Adam Wilde set up Carl's winner.

Jai is a terrific player. He's not at his best yet but it's not for the want of trying. He's banging his head against the wall thinking how he can get it right. He needs a good pre-season but make no mistake, Jai's a good player. I've looked for them, and I can assure you there ain't many of his quality around in this league.

We'll need him to be at his best to help us win the Worcestershire Senior Cup. Sutton came out on top last night, winning 2-1. I wasn't happy with the goals and that habit of letting in sloppy goals has reared its head too often lately.

Leon Kelly had a good chance early on which would have given us an early advantage to put Sutton out of the game.

For the return leg we should have our England keeper back. Danny McDonnell - England keeper!

It sounds fantastic and is thoroughly deserved for a player who has been performing at a consistently high standard for a number of years now.

His inclusion in the National Game XI squad for the Four Nations Tournament next month is proof of what I've known all along - he's the best keeper in the Dr Martens Premier Division and as good as many in the Conference.

Anyone who has watched Worcester City this season will know his value to the side. He has literally been worth points for us with some vital saves at crucial times.

Building a team is about have a strong spine to the team and goalkeeper is possibly the most important position. Fortunately we've got Danny in that role.

His selection is also a great honour for the club, and in addition to Adam Wilde's inclusion against Belgium last season, is vindication that the players we've brought to the club possess genuine quality.