WORCESTER City recovered from their agonising midweek FA Cup heartbreak by disposing of a spirited Stalybridge Celtic 1-0 at a sodden Bower Fold.

Mike Symons’ 64th-minute strike from inside the six-yard box was enough to secure a hard-fought win that extended the Blue and Whites' unbeaten Vanarama Conference North run to eight games, leaving the hosts languishing in the relegation zone.

The win saw Carl Heeley’s side, who have not lost in the league since September, rise to seventh in the table.

With City facing a backlog of fixtures over the festive period, Heeley made five changes to Wednesday’s starting line-up, who took Scunthorpe United to penalties, with Sean Geddes, George Williams and Jordan Murphy all absent from the squad, while Daniel Nti and Wayne Thomas dropped to the bench.

City threatened first through the blistering pace of Tristan Dunkley, who travelled unchallenged from his own half before crossing for Symons to head wide after four minutes.

The hosts enjoyed a large share of possession in the opening quarter and fashioned their first chance through Scott Kerr’s pin-point free-kick that was nodded inches wide by the towering Todd Jordan.

City began to gain the upper hand after 20 minutes and came close after Danny Jackman’s corner fell to Symons, whose close-range header was cleared off the line by the well-positioned Stefan Galinski.

Galinski again injected a moment of excitement into a lacklustre game after his audacious first-time strike from distance flew just over Nathan Vaughan’s crossbar eight minutes before the break.

The Blues threatened again minutes later when the impressive Paul Ennis flashed a free-kick across the six-yard box that was palmed clear by Vaughan before the City stopper had to beat away Liam Dickinson’s drive from outside the area moments later.

Vaughan was called into further action immediately after the restart as Ennis delivered another deadly free-kick that was met by a thundering Matty Hughes header with the City keeper palming to safety.

The hosts continued to carve out chances in a scrappy opening to the second-half with the lively Ennis flashing a shot agonisingly wide of the near post.

But City snatched the decisive goal after patient build-up play culminated in substitute Daniel Nti crossing for Symons, who tapped home from close range to give the visitors a 64th-minute lead.

The spirited hosts continued to battle and came agonisingly close to forcing home an equaliser after Ennis unleashed a powerful drive that clattered the crossbar on 76 minutes.

But City closed out a win that ensured their bid for a play-off place continued to gain momentum.