THE thought of a 470-mile round trip to Workington is not the most appealing at the best of times.
It would have seemed even less so had Worcester City been heading to the Cumbrian outpost without a win to their name in two months.
However, buoyed by Easter Monday’s 3-2 victory over Oxford City at St George’s Lane, they now head up the M6 with renewed confidence.
Tomorrow’s Blue Square Bet North match (3pm) is not such a daunting prospect as it might have been a week ago and City are ready for the challenge.
Just two points separate the sides in the table but City are again looking above them rather than below.
Manager Carl Heeley said: “It was good to finally get a win.
“We have five games to go and it’s always tough at Workington.
“Nobody has it easy there and they have had some good results.
“To travel there is the first major challenge and they are good on home soil.
“But we have finally broken the hoodoo and got a positive result so we can take that into tomorrow and hopefully get a win.”
Worcester have not enjoyed the greatest of experiences at Borough Park in recent years with last season’s 0-0 draw their only point in the last three visits.
They also made a wasted journey two years ago when the game was called off due to a frozen pitch with the team already at the ground.
But, despite Worcester expecting a rough ride, Workington have only won one of their last six games at home and are looking for their first victory in four attempts.
City could name an unchanged side for the match although there is a question mark over the fitness of left-back Shabir Khan, who scored in the Oxford triumph, with Tyler Weir possibly having to switch sides.
Striker Mike Symons will hope his goal against the Hoops can spark back-to-back wins for the first time since August.
But captain Stuart Whitehead (groin) and left-back Ellis Deeney remain on the sidelines, while left-sided player Danny Edwards has been ruled out for the season with cruciate ligament damage.
Heeley added: “We have had lots of blows lately but you have to keep dealing with them and moving on.
“We are desperately short at the back but can’t avoid injuries.
“It’s tough when they are all defenders but if we have to play people out of position until they are fit then that’s we will do.”
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