WORCESTER City put up an encouraging display despite going down 3-1 to Bristol City in their latest friendly at St George's Lane last night.

City more than held their own for most of the match against their Second Division visitors, whose side was littered with first-teamers.

Manager John Barton said afterwards: "We have made a few steps in the right direction in terms of getting ready for August 19.

"For an hour we had an excellent competitive performance and we scored a superb goal to equalise.

"But as you would expect we had to dig in and show a fair amount of resilience after that to keep it at 3-1.

"They paid us a little bit of respect in sending the strength of the side that they have. Their manager Danny Wilson was quite complimentary afterwards and thought the workout was more than beneficial to them."

Among players to catch the eye were winger Mike Wyatt, who was keen to impress the club where he started his career and made 13 first-team appearances, while Carl Heeley was solid at right-back and Paul Carty inventive in midfield.

City had started the better side and were unlucky to go behind on 12 minutes when million-pound striker Tony Thorpe scored with a close-range header.

But they kept going forward and Ian Cottrill, Steve Lutz and Wyatt all went close before, in the 30th minute, Wyatt got clear down the right and his pin-point cross was well headed home by fellow newcomer Ian Reed at the far post.

But parity lasted for only five minutes, when the City defence failed to clear a right-wing cross and Scott Murray drilled home a low shot from the edge of the area.

After Mark Owen's close-range header was blocked on the line by visiting defender Mickey Bell, Murray made it 3-1 in the 56th minute with a close-range effort after sub Greg Goodridge had a shot blocked, and as superior fitness began to tell, City had to redouble their efforts to prevent further goals against.

New 'keeper Danny McDonnell made his best save to beat out a fierce effort from Goodridge with the last attack of the game.

Worcester: McDonnell, Heeley, Bradley, Tucker, Weir, Cottrill (Deakin 69), M. Wyatt, Carty, Owen (Burgess 63), Lutz (Jefferson 63), Reed (Hyde 76). Sub not used: P. Wyatt.

Attendance: 385.