WORCESTER City manager Richard Dryden believes the result at Hyde United does not tell the whole story of how his side performed.

City lost the game 3-1 at Ewen Fields but finished strongly after substitute Matt Dinsmore had given th-em a glimmer of hope with a 77th-minute strike.

Craig Wilding then hit the crossbar with a header two minutes later and Dryden reckons City could have tak-en a point back to St George's Lane.

He said: "We created a lot of chan-ces and we are a bit disappointed we didn't come away with anything even though the scoreline looks like a right hammering. At 2-0 you are alw-ays in the game but we gave away a poor third goal. If Craig Wilding's he-ader had gone in there was time to get back into it because we were playing well. However, 3-0 was maybe a little bit too far."

Dryden also thought his team matched Hyde in spells but admitted the difference was their front three of Matthew Tipton, Chris Simm and Gareth Seddon.

The Worcester boss said: "They have got three good forwards that would probably get in any team in the league.

"I read in the programme that they have only not scored in two games all season and that says a lot, but they don't keep many clean sheets.

"The benchmark is they scored three goals with the chances they created and we created just as many and only scored one.

"I thought we kept them quiet for long periods.

"We lost our discipline a bit when we went 2-0 down but I am not disheartened, we created a lot of chances, we just need to stick a few more away.

"The only time I have been really disheartened was the Hucknall game when a lot of players threw in the towel. But we had a go here."

Dryden had entrusted his back four with thwarting Hyde's attacking threat and, in the main, he was pleased with how they responded.

He said: "We set out with a plan for the back four to stay solid and they did, albeit maybe a bit deep.

"The back four were disciplined but the first goal was a set play and that's not just about the back four, it's about the whole team.

"We knew (David) Morley was a massive threat on set plays and he had a free header for the first goal, which was a bit disappointing.

"The second goal was an error and the third goal I missed because I was trying to sort a few things out on the bench."

He was also impressed with the impact of Troy Wood after he replaced Jamie Price at half-time.

"Troy came on and did well," Dryden said. "He came on and did what was asked of him."

Chris Smith returned to the side and completed his first 90 minutes since the Boxing Day.

"The game would have done him good," Dryden added.