MANAGER Richard Dryden was full of admiration for the way Worcester City defended in securing a second bite of the cherry against AFC Telford United.

The 0-0 draw was City’s third clean sheet in as many matches following victories against Bourne Town and Dover Athletic.

Although they came up short as an attacking force, Dryden took pleasure from watching his players put in a battling display.

He said: “We didn’t play well and, attacking-wise, we were nowhere near good enough. We didn’t retain the ball very well at all, but defensively everybody put a shift in — not just the keeper and the back four — especially in the second-half.

“We had to ruffled a few feathers at half-time because it looked like the occasion got to one or two of them. We didn’t start very well and were on the back foot, but the back four were immense.

“If teams want to pass the ball in their own half and not break us down, that’s great — I’m not worried about that. What I don’t want is players running everywhere trying to close down so the opposition can play through us and walk the ball into the net.

“If we have to concede a bit of ground and possession we will do because, although they had about 70 per cent of the play and kept the ball a lot better than us, we had the two best chances.

“We could have come in 2-0 up at half-time. That might seem a bit unjust but I can’t remember Ben Hinchliffe making a save until late on when he pulled one out of the top corner.”

Dryden added: “I still think we could have won it. I’m not ecstatic or overly impressed with the way we kept the ball or went forward but I’m happy for the players to still be in the hat and for the club to make a bit more money.”

Mark Clyde put in another man-of-the-match performance in a defence that, according to the manager, cannot afford to rest on its laurels. He said: “Mark is a great player and we look at him as a rock. We’ve got Tom Kemp alongside him, the two full-backs are doing great and we’ve got Wayne Daniel itching to play, but Wayne’s been around the scene and he knows how well the back two are playing. Three clean sheets on the bounce is pretty impressive.

“If a full-back dips in form, Mark will move out wide and Wayne will come in so the back four have got something to play for.”

The manager also explained the decision to bring in Rob Davies instead of Louis Bridges on the left of midfield.

He said: “Louis has done really well and, to be fair to him, he did well when he came on but we just needed a little bit more discipline on the defensive side of it.

“Louis has been fantastic, he’s been involved in all the decent performances but I think it was just a day when we were away from home and we needed to make it hard for them and frustrate them.”