TWO-goal hero Darren Middleton fired a warning to Worcester City's rivals after his late goals secured a New Year's Day victory against Hednesford Town.

City took advantage of a rain-decimated Dr Martens Premier Division programme -- theirs was the only match played -- to close the gap on leaders Tamworth to just two points with a 3-1 win ahead of Saturday's meeting between the two clubs.

"It was a great win and sends out a warning to the rest of the league that we are still here and aren't going to go away," said Middleton.

"At Christmas you can't win the league but you can lose it and we put ourselves back in the picture after two poor results.

"We had to win against Hednesford because with Tamworth now having two games in hand, it would have made our task even harder.

"Local derbies are always tight but there was a bit of extra pressure after picking up just one point from the last two games."

Leading scorer Middleton admitted fearing the worst when Kevin Francis popped up with a 71st minute equaliser.

"Hednesford made it very difficult for our lads at the back but we had a lot of possession. We created a lot of chances but when they equalised I was thinking it might be one of those games again," he added.