Worcester City boss Carl Heeley: Fans had right to moan but home ground can be like a morgue

However, manager Carl Heeley insisted his side had “no divine right” to get to that stage after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Brackley Town in the third qualifying round.

In 2014, Worcester stunned Coventry City 2-1 at the Ricoh Arena before losing to Scunthorpe United in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.

A year later, they reached the first round again and lost 3-0 at Sheffield United but Heeley believes the City faithful have been “spoilt”.

“We have got no divine right to play Coventry and Sheffield United every year,” he said.

“It’s difficult to get there and we came up against a good, solid side on Saturday, who were better than us all over the park. I think we have been spoilt over the past couple of seasons, so I certainly would not put it down as a low.

“It’s disappointing and frustrating that we have not performed on the day but that’s the way it goes.”

With home advantage and after an impressive display to win 2-0 at Brackley in National League North just over two weeks ago, City’s supporters were hopeful of seeing their side progress.

But handling errors from keeper Ryan Boot gifted goals to Steve Diggin and David Pitt before Jack Bowen scored at the death. City also struggled to create anything going forward and the home fans voiced their displeasure.

Although unhappy with the atmosphere at the Victoria Ground, comparing it to a “morgue” at times, Heeley said supporters had “a right to be disappointed”.

“The crowd are getting frustrated and the comments you hear don’t particularly help. They are the same comments I have heard for 20 years,” said Heeley, whose side visit Boston United in the league on Saturday (3pm).

“Sometimes you want to turn around and say, ‘Can you please put as much energy into getting behind the team?’, because it’s either like a morgue or you can hear people moaning and it’s not helpful.

“But they had a right to be disappointed and moan on Saturday because we were not at the races.”