LEARN to kill games off or risk defeat was manager John Barton's blunt message to his players ahead of Moor Green's visit to St George's Lane tonight (7.45).

Worcester City climbed to second in the Dr Martens Premier Division table following the 1-0 win at Welling United but a lack-lustre second-half left the Wings close to snatching an equaliser.

Barton, though happy with another clean sheet, wants his side to finish sides off. "With all due respect to Welling we are going to face better sides than them and what we produced is not always going to be good enough.

"The game at Welling should have been over at half time but despite some good situations and good chances we couldn't finish them off," said Barton.

"We were like a boxer with an opponent on the ropes looking for the knock-out punch but couldn't find it. As a result we kept them in the game.

"We put a lot of effort into the first- half and didn't quite have enough to see us through comfortably in the second.

"But on the plus side it was another clean-sheet and six points from two away games is a good start."

Captain Carl Heeley returns from suspension tonight, while Paul Carty, who played in the reserves on Saturday, is also likely to be added to the squad.

Midfielders David Holmes and Pat Lyons may come into the reckoning.

n Match report -- Page 22.