IT’S often hard to pinpoint too much from friendlies but Worcester City boss Carl Heeley should feel reasonably happy with the shape of his backline during the workout with Championship giants Aston Villa.

Sure, City conceded five goals but they stood up well for 45 minutes in scorching conditions at Stourport against a Villa side fresh from relegation from the Premier League.

As you would expect, the higher-graded visitors, who paraded Jack Grealish, Gabby Agbonlahor, Joleon Lescott and Stiliyan Petrov, monopolised possession throughout the afternoon.

But City are still work in progress, did not disgrace themselves at Walshes Meadow and should take satisfaction from scoring the best goal of the match.

Trialist Matt Birley did his chances of earning a deal no harm with a stunning opener for City, which gave the National League North outfit a deserved lead.

And another trialist, Mickael Partodikromo, who wore the number seven shirt, would have impressed the Worcester supporters in a bumper crowd of 1,972.

Partodikromo, who played on the right side of midfield, looked lively going forward and also made a couple of strong tackles much to the derision of the Villa supporters.

But the 20-year-old definitely caught the eye and a search shows he is a former Sheffield United youngster who hails from New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific Ocean.

The dependable Tyler Weir didn’t look out of place in illustrious company either and made a host of important interventions, including a goal-line clearance to deny Lescott at the beginning of the second half.

Captain Graham Hutchison and Tom Sharpe both worked hard, particularly in the opening 45 minutes when the encounter was at its most competitive.

Midfielder Junior English showed some neat touches and former Villa trainee Danny Jackman, disappointed not to have started, fired over late in the game.

Villa, who sent a squad to play AFC Telford earlier in the day, fell behind in the seventh minute when returning winger Birley’s free-kick sailed into the top left-hand corner from around 30 yards.

And it was no more than City deserved because they had almost gone ahead moments earlier when Mark Bunn acrobatically clawed away Kyle Perry’s close-range header.

Roberto Di Matteo’s side, however, were only trailing for four minutes because Grealish, who had already been denied by trialist keeper Nick Draper, showed composure inside the box to slot home.

And the one-time European champions took the lead in the 27th minute after the dangerous Alan Hutton made a surging run down the right and crossed for the unmarked Libor Kozak to head home.

The introduction of Petrov, playing his first game on British soil in more than four years after overcoming leukaemia, drew the loudest cheers.

Villa stretched their lead early in the second period with a superb individual goal from Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, who also played in the match at Telford.

With the game won, the higher-graded side saw out the match fairly comfortably as City made wholesale changes.

Substitute Keinan Davis steered Hepburn-Murphy’s pass beyond substitute stopper Alex Connell for Villa’s fourth goal in the 84th minute and he completed the scoring soon afterwards with his second from Lescott’s left-wing cross.

City: Draper (Connell); Gallinagh, Weir, Hutchison, Sharpe; Gater (Smith), Partodikromo (Jackman), English (Williams), Mbunga (Geddes); Perry (Wilson), Birley.

Villa: Bunn (Johansson 77), Hutton, Okore (Lescott 46), Toner, Bennett; Gardner, Tshibola (Petrov 46); Agbonlahor (Davis 68), Veretout (Gil 46), Grealish (McKirdy 75); Kozak (Hepburn-Murphy 46).

Attendance: 1,972.