JOINT-manager Carl Heeley believes a top-half finish is “achievable” for Worcester City as they aim to secure the double over Bradford Park Avenue tomorrow (3pm).

Worcester could cement their place in Vanarama National League North for next season if they defeat Avenue and other results go their way at the weekend.

A hard-earned 1-0 win over Hednesford Town on Tuesday night saw them move seven points clear of the relegation zone and Heeley insists his side are now looking up the table.

“I don’t feel we should have been down the bottom of the league but we have been because we had to play a quarter of our games with less than a full complement of players,” said Heeley, whose side are seven points behind 11th-placed Stockport County.

“But a top-half finish is achievable and when there is something to achieve we have to keep going.

“We have got four games left, three of them away from home, and we want to win as many of those as we can.”

Before seeing off Avenue 3-1 at Aggborough earlier this month, City were hovering just two points above the bottom three.

But Heeley said he was always confident his 13th-placed side would steer clear of trouble.

“We were quite comfortable about the situation,” he said.

“When you work with players, see them inside the changing room and hear the things they are saying, then you see things differently to standing on the touchline and making a view after watching them for an hour-and-a-half most weeks.

“We were always confident because we know that if we are at our best we can beat anybody in this league as we have proved this season.

“But we have had to do the ugly things well recently and we did that against Hednesford.”

On-loan midfielder Shaun Donnellan is expected to return after missing City’s midweek clash due to his commitments with West Bromwich Albion Under-21s.

But Heeley said full-back Tyler Weir (thigh), winger Dan Nti (dead leg) and defender Alex Gudger (shoulder) all picked up knocks after their battling display at Hednesford.

Bradford boosted their survival hopes with a 1-0 victory over bottom club Corby Town on Wednesday evening.

Although City beat the Yorkshire side with a brace from Lee Hughes and a free-kick from Nti, Heeley said he expects their opponents to be a different proposition at the Horsfall Stadium.

“It is going to be a poor surface up there, so we have got to play an effective game,” he added.

“They are still scrapping for points, so we have got to try to maximise what we have got available and hopefully get a win on the board.”