DYE his hair red, stick a Scottish accent on him and Worcester City midfielder Pat Lyons could be another Gordon Strachan.

The similarity as footballers is uncanny, both possess a sublime first touch coupled with vision and awareness not to mention fiery temperaments.

Lyons has played a key part in City's transformation into a footballing outfit and re-taining possession is central to his game.

In the hurly-burly of midfield where first touch is so important Lyons' is unrivalled.

It's something that he's worked hard on since he was a kid but the Derby County youth coach is certainly reaping the benefits now.

"Because I was smaller I was never going to be a thrive in the physical parts of the game so I had to make sure my touch and awareness were better than anybody else," he said.

"I always practised hard on that and now of course playing on such a beautiful pitch as St George's Lane there's no bobbles or anything to worry about."

Lyons move from Unibond Premier champions Burton Albion has gone better than he hoped for and the good news for City supporters is he can see similarities between the two clubs.

"The main one is that on a Saturday afternoon we go out believing we are going to win the game," he said.

"We know that we don't give goals away, and that was a big thing of Nigel Clough's. He always said if you don't give goals away you can always nick it 1-0.

"We've had chances to do that although we've had a few 0-0's as well.

"The dressing has got a very good team spirit, everyone has pulled together and wants to win the league.

"The gaffer said in the summer he wanted to improve gradually and progress and the players he's attracted have been superb.

"He always said he would love to be up there challenging and we're still up there at Christmas and even with key players in-jured we're still getting results which speaks a lot for the spirit at the club."

Despite his impressive start to his City career Lyons has managed just one goal - a source of frustration as he admits.

"I'm disappointed that I have not scored a few more goals but playing out wide it is difficult to create as many chances that you get in central midfield," he said.

"My preferred position is in the middle, the gaffer knows that but he thinks I can do just as good a job on the right and I see a fair amount of the ball.

"I've played in the middle a few times and really enjoyed that but we've got a lot of good central midfielders and I don't mind where I play as long as I play."