WORCESTER City boss Carl Heeley praised the character of his players after they fought back to win 3-2 at Hinckley United.

City trailed 2-0 after just 10 minutes of the Blue Square Bet North clash at the Greene King Stadium but goals from Lee Smith and Kevin O’Connor before the break, and Simon Brown’s second-half penalty, secured victory.

Hinckley also played the last half-hour with 10 men after Richard Lavery was sent off for conceding the decisive spot-kick.

The result lifted Worcester to sixth in the table, two points shy of the play-off places, although they have played more games than the teams around them.

Heeley said: “I was far from happy with the first 15 minutes, we were very sloppy defensively and gave them a huge lift.

“But, in fairness to the boys, they came back and showed a lot of character and turned it round.

“There’s certainly belief there and confidence and they do think they can win every game but, with the greatest of respect, I think we can make our lives a little bit easier at times.

“We’re not dull or boring to watch but I’d love a 1-0 win with a clean sheet and no scares.

“However, the most important thing is the three points and we’ve come away from home and got another good win at a difficult place so we’re overjoyed with that.”

The manager added: “It’s slightly frustrating for us because we are having to swap and change in key areas due to injuries and we were down to the bare bones.

“But, as much as we can be overly critical about conceding two poor goals and giving Hinckley an opportunity for a third, we gradually got better and I thought we bossed the second-half without too much danger.

“Lee Smith’s goal came at a key time and we got ourselves level just before the break and that gave us the impetus going into the second-half. I thought we always looked a real threat.”