THERE might still be four games to go but I suspect the end of the season can’t come soon enough for Worcester City.

A chance to relax, recharge the batteries and reflect on a campaign that started so well but is now fizzling out.

The play-offs went a long time ago and, although not yet mathematically safe, it would take a wild concoction of results for them to be relegated.

All that remains to play for is pride but in the grand scheme of things they would likely swap that to face champions Chester tomorrow and then head to the beach.

Taking on already-relegated Hinckley United at St George’s Lane this Saturday is another chance to play at the ground before it is demolished but there can’t be much appetite for trips to Brackley and Bishop’s Stortford, especially as the latter is on a Tuesday night.

The campaign is finally taking its toll on the squad, not least a defence that is becoming increasingly threadbare by the week.

Lee Ayres was the latest to fall foul of the injury curse as he pulled up with an Achilles problem against Workington.

To say City are not getting the rub of the green when it comes to casualties would be an insult.

They have been dealt a cruel hand that even the largest of squads in this division, with plentiful resources, would struggle to cope with.

Yet, despite being desperately thin on the ground at the back, it took a spectacular Gareth Arnison strike that looped over Matt Sargeant to decide their latest encounter at Borough Park.

Apart from that moment 10 minutes into the second-half, Worcester’s makeshift defence largely contained the Cumbrians in a scrappy contest.

Forced into another reshuffle following Ayres’ departure, they battled and blocked to frustrate the hosts.

It was a similar tale further up the pitch too but, try as they did, the visitors also couldn’t fashion many clear cut chances of their own.

Danny Glover may have joined Halifax but City aren’t short of attacking options, they don’t have injuries in this department.

Yet they struggled to trouble keeper Aaran Taylor from open play, even if Kieron Morris and Tyler Weir continually probed.

Tom Thorley warmed Taylor’s palms with a first-half free-kick, awarded after Mike Symons had been unceremoniously dragged to the floor by Lee Andrews, but Shabir Khan and Charlie Reece were wayward with other efforts. Michael Taylor also toiled in vain after being introduced.

Such facets have been a familiar theme of late, even if City bucked the trend in style with victory against Oxford City on Easter Monday.

They will now be looking to improve in that area against Hinckley United, a side long since doomed to the drop.

Which in turn will bring them one game closer to the end of the season.