JOINT-boss John Snape wants Worcester City’s fans to help banish the memory of back-to-back defeats by whipping up a derby frenzy today.

Stourport Swifts visit the Victoria Ground in the Midland League Premier Division (3pm) as City bid to get their promotion dream back on track.

Swifts arrive on the back of a six-match unbeaten run on the road, a sequence that includes a 5-4 victory at table-topping Coleshill Town.

Something will have to give with Worcester boasting one of two unbeaten home records in the division – the other belonging to landlords Bromsgrove Sporting – and Snape is under no illusions over the task at hand.

“They will be dangerous and there is some added spice with it being a derby game but hopefully we can get back to the level we want and expect to be at,” said Snape.

“We have a lot of local lads at the club now so they tend to know or have played alongside the opposition when we face a more local side so there’s always that element.

“The fact it is a derby will hopefully put a few on the gate because we rely on our support. To have everyone behind us in a good derby atmosphere would be great and really helpful in terms of getting over this recent sticky patch.

“We haven’t lost a home league game. Yes, we had a knockback last week but our second-half performance was a big improvement on what we saw in the first. We are confident we can take three points.”

Snape also revealed he had run the rule over Stourport earlier in the season with some interesting conclusions drawn from some more recent feedback.

“I watched Stourport against Sporting Khalsa and we have had a report done on them too,” he added. “They have changed personnel in certain areas which appears to have helped them.

“I know their chairman is very professional and the manager Mark Phillips gets his side up for it. This will be a tough test, especially on the back of two negative results.”

Captain Brad Birch and Jamie Smith return from suspension and injury respectively, although Snape will have to do without central defender Mark Smith who has work commitments.

n City under-21s defend top spot in Midland League Under-21 West when they take on their Continental Star counterparts at Claines Lane this morning (10.30).

The youngsters have racked up a whopping 30 goals in four straight victories, conceding only one and putting together a run of three straight clean sheets in recent weeks.

Worcester Raiders travel to Welland for a Worcestershire FA Saturday Junior Cup quarter-final (2pm).