WORCESTER City's hopes for a good start to the season have been boosted by suspensions to two opposing star strikers.

Hinckley's Leon Kelly and Hyde's Gareth Seddon will both miss their teams' respective matches against City in August.

Seddon, who has played one game for Worcester, starts a four-match suspension when the two sides meet on the opening day of the Blue Square North campaign at St George's Lane on Saturday, August 11.

Former City player Kelly begins a mammoth 10-match ban at the start of the campaign and is therefore ruled out of the match at the Marston Stadium 48 hours later.

Kelly, 29, still had four games to serve of a five-match ban imposed at the end of last season for being sent off three times.

That saw him miss the club's dramatic 4-3 defeat against Farsley Celtic in the play-off final at Burton Albion's Pirelli Stadium.

But the ban was extended by a further six games by the Football Association for foul and abusive language when speaking to the referee in the car park after the last match of the season.

Seddon was sent off in the penultimate game of the season - a 2-0 defeat at Hinckley on April 21 - but the punishment is carried over.