SHOUTING instructions from the touchline tends to be one of the main methods used by managers to get information across to their players.

However, thanks to a group of established former professionals, Worcester City are able to let their football do most of the talking, according to joint-boss Matt Gardiner.

After landing former Premier League strikers Deon Burton and Lee Hughes in September, the Blue and Whites added further experience with the signing of Shaun Harrad, who has played for a number of clubs in the Football League.

As well as providing a threat in attack, Gardiner said the trio’s know-how on the pitch was helping to develop some of their players and improve City’s results.

“Everyone learns in different ways,” Gardiner said. “Some players can take on information and then break it down, whereas others learn from watching, so they may look at someone like Lee and question how he managed to get away from that defender.

“I remember the first session I did with Deon, Lee and Shaun, and you could see the quality of people like (Daniel) Nti, Dunks (Tristan Dunkley) and (Sean) Geddes go straight up in training.

“When you see those guys working hard to try and get results, you have got no excuses as a young player can think, ‘If they can do it, why can’t I?’ “When Lee played away at Solihull, he was running up and down tracking the full back and then on the Tuesday night in the replay, he was getting the winner in the 96th minute.

“He is 39 years old but you would not have thought it as he has still got the enthusiasm – and that’s important to us.”

Gardiner said he felt Worcester had “coaches on the pitch” as Wayne Thomas and Burton were in the process of completing their Uefa A Licence, while Danny Jackman was working on his Uefa B Licence.

He believed having those types of players had been key to transforming the environment at the Vanarama National League North outfit.

“I don’t think it is any coincidence last season that George Williams went on and so did Graham Hutchinson. And then you see (Ebby) Nelson-Addy come back this year and you can see the improvement in his game,” he said.

“When you ask Ebby now, he says, ‘It is a good environment to play football in’ as people have got smiles on their faces. Generally when that happens and you have got talented people, they tend to do their best work.”

He added: “If you look at the core of the team now, you have got Nathan Vaughan, Tom Sharpe, Danny, Ashley Vincent, Deon and Lee, who have got experience in terms of age.

“But in terms of experience of playing first-team games, you have got people like Tyler Weir, Ellis Deeney, Daniel and Sean.

“Then you have got the younger players like Dean (Waldron), Jamie (Smith) and (Connor) Gater, who are coming up and playing at this level.

“So it’s nice as they can all bounce off each other.

“It is a good group and there is a better feeling within it now than there was six weeks ago.”