ANDY Preece will look for his players to step up a gear when they travel to county rivals Evesham United tomorrow (3pm).

City boss Preece believes there is still plenty of room for improvement from his side at Common Road despite their 4-0 thumping of Malvern Town on Wednesday night.

That match came on the back of two competent performances against Coca-Cola League opposition but Preece is eager for his team to improve with each game.

"We did OK but we are still a little bit short in our passing and our movement," said Preece of the performance against Malvern.

"We had a young side out, we won 4-0 and you can't ask for much more than that."

The man of the moment was young striker Troy Wood who hit a hat-trick to advance his chances of wrestling a first-team spot from Craig Wilding or Adam Webster.

"We're hoping that all the young lads we signed last year will have a big impact," said Preece.

"Troy has pushed himself right forward and we know from the end of last year he can score goals.

"I am really pleased with him. He's very sharp when you get the ball to him around the box. And he's still only young."

If Wood's hat-trick was the highlight of the game at Langland Stadium, the low point was the injury sustained by returning goalkeeper James Coates.

He broke a bone in his finger and now needs surgery, with the prospect of six weeks on the sidelines.

That would rule him out of the start of the Nationwide North campaign along with injured striker Mark Danks and suspended skipper Des Lyttle. Preece said: "It's a bit of a nightmare for us. It's a freak sort of injury but the little things seem to be going against us at the moment.

"It knocks you back a bit and it's just unfortunate for us."

Coates was brought to St George's Lane as cover for Danny McDonnell and Preece is desperate for his first-choice stopper to come through the rest of the pre-season campaign unscathed.

While City lost 2-1 to Rochdale on Tuesday night, Evesham were beaten 5-3 by Midlands Alliance opponents Alvechurch.

Former Worcester City players Mark Owen, Nathan Jukes and Mark Shepherd could be among those who take the field for Paul West's side tomorrow.

They will be ground-sharing with City at St George's Lane once their Southern League Midland Division campaign gets under way.