MANAGER John Barton admits he will be seething if Worcester City succumb to another lame end to a season.

The St George's Lane boss has twice seen his side slump to eighth place finishes in the Dr Martens Premier Division and is determined to avoid making it three on the trot.

City entertain Tiverton Town tomorrow (3pm) occupying fourth spot but well placed to challenge Stafford Rangers and Chippenham Town for runners-up spot.

Hopes of catching runaway leaders Tamworth are virtually impossible with the Lambs enjoying a 16-point lead over City but Barton expects his team to still produce a strong run-in and set themselves up for another title challenge next season.

"We will regret a lame finish and that's the message to the players," he said.

"In fact I will be really annoyed if it goes that way. After tomorrow we're into single figures for games remaining, they'll all be tough but it's important we don't waste all our good work up to now."

Paul Carty is poised for a recall after recovering from a gashed ankle and Mark Shail is also fit after shaking off an Achilles knock.

Darren Middleton and Mark Owen are likely to start on the bench with Stewart Hadley and Adam Webster given another chance to develop their attacking partnership.

Barton has high expectations of the duo and believes Tiverton will also aware of their threat.

"It's an exciting partnership which has got lots of possibilities," said Barton. "Injuries have disrupted it for much of the last year but I'm sure the opposition will see them as a problem."

Barton is anticipating another entertaining contest against seventh-placed Tiverton.

"It's got the makings of a good match and should be fairly open," he said. "We will need to press them hard because if we stand off them, they can play and cause us a lot of problems."

Meanwhile, Nationwide Conference chief executive John Moules meets the Football Association next week to clarify whether runners-up can be promoted if the champions' ground fails to meet requirements.

St George's Lane and Tamworth's Lamb Ground are both due to be inspected on April 1 to assess their suitability for the Conference.