JOHN Barton delivered a scathing assessment of his Worcester City side after they crashed to a 2-0 defeat to Tiverton at the weekend.

The City manager accused them of lacking pace and quality, adding the players had to take responsibility for their poor performance.

Goals in either half secured victory for Tiverton and posed serious doubts over City's hopes of a runners-up spot in the Dr Martens Premier Division.

"You can make a case for us deserving something out of almost every game this season, but there have been a couple where we haven't deserved anything and that was Bath City and today," said Barton.

"We're going to have to take the criticism on the chin because that's what that performance deserved.

"We talked to the players about the importance of the game but it's thrown back in your face.

"One-nil at half-time flattered us and to be honest I was quite happy with that. We had to make the pace and running after the break, which we did to a degree, but we were still way off the pace to deliver a result.

"Sometimes it can be hard work watching a game and this was hard work today.

"There was no quality in midfield and I don't think we had enough in the middle of the pitch.

"There was no hold-up play, a distinct lack of conviction in the box and their goalkeeper was collecting balls without any challenge."

Barton blasted the quality of the set-pieces which he described as 'shocking' and said he was bitterly disappointed. "The players have to stand up and take responsibility," he added.

"It's frustrating on the touchline and I can see the attraction of being a player/manager -- at least you can have some influence even if it is double the work load.

"Paul Carty had his first game in two weeks but it looked like he had missed two months. We only had one player and that was Adam Webster although Allan Davies battled bravely and looked livelier in the last half an hour.

"I'm looking for players to come in and press a claim, but I was bitterly disappointed with our midfield. I'm looking for them to nail the colours to the mast but they didn't do that."