WORCESTER City are set to hold crunch talks with council chiefs after supporters’ protests against the club’s exile had the “desired effect”.

A bumper crowd of more than 2,000 fans turned out at Aggborough to watch Worcester play out a 0-0 draw against FC United of Manchester.

Although City did not get the victory they wanted from the Vanarama National League North clash, director Rob Crean said it was a “fantastic” day for the club.

A rousing song, called Bring City Home, was played before kick-off while a series of huge banners calling on council bosses to end their exile were unveiled.

And Crean revealed the efforts by the club, who have been playing in Kidderminster since 2013, had triggered a reaction from Worcester City Council.

“We have had initial discussions with (council leader) Marc Bayliss as he knew we wanted to talk,” Crean said.

“I don’t think that would have come about if we had not done this protest, so it has had the desired effect.

“It has got us in a room with him but now we can start proper discussions.”

He added: “It was a fantastic day, so credit to all the supporters who did the banners and the supporters’ trust who have done most of the work.

“I think they (the council) had already got the message but we need to keep pushing it home.”

Worcester City FC Supporters’ Trust submitted plans in April 2014 to create a £2million 4,419-capacity stadium at Perdiswell Park.

However, council leaders are now looking at alternative sites for the club to build a ground and Crean said he was willing to listen to their suggestions.

“It is OK for them (councillors) to say there are alternatives but we need to sit in a room and talk about them,” Crean said.

“Now we have started that dialogue, we can ask them where they want us to go and what is going to be the outcome.

“So nothing has been decided yet as there will be plenty of talks to go on but at least we are in the room.”

Joint-manager Carl Heeley, who is also on the club’s board, said he was keen to get discussions under way.

“It was a great effort from supporters and it shows people care about what is going on at the club,” Heeley said.

“To get that type of crowd at this level is unbelievable.

“We don’t want to come across as pushy (to the council) but we need to have talks collectively with city councillors and the board of directors because there has got to be a positive outcome from this.

“If I didn’t want to play my little part in getting the club back home, I would have walked away when we left St George’s Lane.

“But I am in it for the long haul and I want to do my little bit to hopefully help bring the club back to the city.”