THE ebullient Mick Tuohy travels to Weymouth tomorrow (3pm) in confident mood after a vigorous training session convinced him Worcester City's players had blown away the cobwebs that have littered recent lacklustre displays.

Goalless stalemates against Halesowen and Ilkeston have taken the gloss off their position at the summit of the Dr Martens Premier but City's assistant manager Tuohy has this week sensed a renewed purpose in the players.

Tuohy confessed to deep gloom following the Robins clash but any fears of an impending collapse of team morale were swiftly dispelled on Monday evening.

"For the first time this season I thought there was a dip in their form in training on Thursday night before the Ilkeston match and that carried on to Saturday," explained Tuohy.

"After the match I was very down and more disappointed than at any time this season but after Monday night's tough training session I feel confident.

"The players reacted with an outstanding session and they had an edge to their game.

"Sometimes you do get these dips in form at various stages of the season and if there had not been a response then a few warning signs would have been signalled so I am delighted with their attitude."

Remaining positive is the key to Tuohy's philosophy and that is a message he likes to drum home.

"All I can say is that at the start of the season everybody in the club would have been happy to be in our current position," he said. "Let's reflect on how far we have come in the last couple of years and we are close to grasping something big," he said.

"We know there is still a long way to go, and that we have not been firing on all cylinders, but we have been trying to change things - we brought in Adam Wilde, moved David Holmes up front, switched to 4-3-3 and it is always tight in this league whoever you play.

Balancing it all out, we are a third of the way through the season and top of the league - that's brilliant - if we'd have won the last six everybody would have been high as a kite."

John Barton's side could not have picked a better opportunity to visit the Terras, who were left reeling from their Dr Martens Cup exit at the hands of Newport Isle of Wight.

But after the stumble against Ilkeston, Tuohy is pledging hard graft to end the goal famine now standing at five blank sheets in six.

"At the end of the day the best teams in the world are those that work harder than anybody else - that coupled with ability goes a long way," added Tuohy.

"We have got that and our players won't stop trying - sometimes it might not look like that but they are willing to try different things and keep working."

FORMCAST: City to take it 2-1.