TOM Thorley and Kevin O’Connor are the best central midfielders I have worked with at Worcester City.

I was fortunate enough to play with some very good players in that position in Joe Jackson, Paul Chenoweth and Ian Cottrill, but I am struggling to think of anybody better than Tom and Kevin.

They have been fabulous since they came to the club and I can’t speak highly enough of them. They are key players for us.

At the end of our last campaign in Conference South in 2010, I looked at the squad and at how I wanted to make my mark on it.

I wanted to try and play a different style of football, concentrate more on ball retention and shorten the game up quite a bit.

To do that, it was important that in the middle of the park there were two players who were comfortable having the ball in tight areas and technically very good.

Tom and Kevin were my first two targets and I would have been chuffed to bits to get one of them but to get them both was a bonus.

Both have great energy levels and never look tired. At the end of a game they could go and play again, they look that fresh.

Their application and attitude is always very positive but they are also popular lads and you won’t find anybody at the club with a bad word to say about either of them.

After the setback of getting released by Stoke City as a youngster, Tom has dusted himself down and been wonderful for us.

He has developed since he’s been at Worcester and won a silver medal with Great Britain at the World University Games earlier this year.

Tom struggled a bit for form after coming back from China but he kept going and didn’t beat himself up.

He came out of the side against Blyth Spartans in October – that was the first time that had happened to him but his response was excellent.

Kevin cruelly had his career finished in the full-time game through a nerve-related hamstring injury but he’s also got on with it.

He has played a lot of football for us and been rewarded with the captaincy, and rightly so.

He has grown in that role and, since he’s taken the armband, has gone up another notch.

I think both of them are playing their best football since they have been at the club.

They rarely have a bad game and are seven out of 10 players every week – often more than that.

It’s good to see them both chipping in with goals as well.