ANDY Preece is threatening to ring the changes tomorrow as a result of Worcester City's dismal mid-week showing at Vauxhall Motors.
City travel to Conference strugglers Crawley Town in the FA Trophy second round, having overcome earlier challenges from Kendal Town and Hayes with successive 1-0 wins at St George's Lane.
It marks Worcester's 100th fixture in the non-league knockout competition, with a record of 45 victories, 19 draws and 35 losses from their previous 99 ties.
But City will struggle to make it 101 this season if they repeat their Tuesday performance at Rivacre Road.
Spurned chances -- including a missed Les Hines penalty -- proved costly as City stumbled to a single-goal defeat at relegation rivals Vauxhall.
Player-manager Preece could not hide his dismay at another dose of lacklustre finishing, from both attack and midfield, and he is considering making big changes at the Broadfield Stadium.
George Clegg is almost guaranteed to make the starting line-up after completing a one-game suspension and Sam Wedgbury should return.
Graham Hyde may get a chance following another run-out for the reserves against Burton Albion on Wednesday evening.
And Preece will be tempted to pick himself after netting a brace in the second-string 5-1 victory, while Troy Wood is also pushing hard.
An enforced change will see Danny Hodnett return to defence as new boy Dennis Pearce is cup-tied.
"After Vauxhall, the one thing I can change is personnel," said Preece. "There is nothing else I can do if we can't bring somebody in.
"We've got Cleggy and Sam coming back, so that's two players that started at Vauxhall that will be changed.
"I think we probably did miss those two. They have got that extra bit of quality, but players would have to look at themselves if we are relying on a 16-year-old to be a key player.
"I know Sam is a good player who gets on the ball and has faith in his own ability. But he is still very young and learning the game. We may have to look at changing the side. It's just not good enough that we are not taking all these chances. It's just getting so repetitive and it's really hurting us.
"We are doing everything right other than putting the ball in the back of the net."
City have proved they can humble higher-graded opponents, having dumped out current Conference leaders Accrington Stanley from the FA Cup with two hugely impressive displays.
However, those lion-heart performances are considered the exception, rather than the norm, of a dismal season in which Worcester are staring at a relegation battle.
Preece admits he would rather get stuck into another league game tomorrow to attempt to ease their worries, but he also believes a decent FA Trophy run could lift confidence.
He said: "I'd rather be playing in the league this weekend, because it's another game where teams around us in the league are playing and could pick up points.
"But we're looking forward to Crawley. Like the Accrington game, we have nothing to lose and we can get something out of it if we stay positive."
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