STRIKER Connor Collins will be given his chance to prove his worth at Worcester City, says manager Carl Heeley.

The 20-year-old joined the Blue and Whites last month after scoring 28 goals in 21 games for Fairfield Villa in the Midland Premier Division.

Despite City’s goal-drought, which stood at nearly 500 minutes before Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Hednesford Town, Collins has had to bide his time.

An injury playing for Fairfield, who he remains dual registered with, set him back but he came off the bench in the 89th minute to make his Worcester debut at the weekend.

Collins is now poised for more game time and could get further minutes in tonight’s Conference North match against Oxford City at Aggborough (7.45pm).

Heeley said: “It’s a massive step from where Connor has been playing so we’ve deliberately left him for a few weeks to acclimatise in the training sessions, getting used to playing with the others and building his own confidence.

“He played for Fairfield the Saturday before last and took a little knock so hence he wasn’t involved on the Sunday against Gloucester, but we’ll give him an opportunity and see how he does.”

City ended a run of five games without a goal against Hednesford and also picked up their first point in three matches.

Saturday’s performance was a marked improvement and Heeley is looking for more of the same against Oxford.

Just two points separate the sides in the table and victory tonight would see City leapfrog their 11th-placed opponents, who have lost back-to-back matches against leaders Fylde and second-placed Barrow.

“If we can back Saturday up with a victory it would be terrific,” Heeley said.

“Oxford have had an exceptionally good season themselves, they were tipped to be down near the bottom struggling but they’ve been far from that.

“They have been a match for most sides and pass the ball around well, but it will be a tough game for them here.”

City’s only injury concern is Connor Gater after the midfielder went off with an ankle injury midway through the second-half against Hednesford but Heeley is hopeful of him being available.

The Worcester boss, whose side were held to a 0-0 draw at Marsh Lane in August, added: “It’s quite a sapping time of year with the pitches so we’ll have to look and see if anyone is fatigued and if we can freshen it up.

“But I expect everybody to want to play after Saturday because we have got a foothold. “We hadn’t scored for a few games but we scored a couple of goals and created bags of chances so that’s a step in the right direction,” added Heeley.

Oxford keeper Salva de la Cruz was sent off in their 3-0 defeat at Barrow on Saturday but is still available for tonight’s game.