WINGER Elijah Chilekwa’s chances of playing for Worcester City this season are “up in the air” after it emerged travelling issues were holding him back.

The former Bristol City youngster joined the Blue and Whites in the summer after manager Carl Heeley said he “showed glimpses of his pace and trickery” in pre-season.

However, the 18-year-old has not featured since coming on for the final eight minutes of City’s 1-0 defeat at Tamworth in the second game of the campaign.

With Worcester struggling at the bottom of National League North, Chilekwa’s raw talent could help Heeley’s confidence-hit side’s fortunes.

But he revealed the Cardiff-based player, who has represented Wales at under 17 level, was finding it “very difficult” to get to and from games.

“When he signed for us, the initial idea was his parents were going to bring him but that’s not proved to be a reasonable option for them because of the distance,” Heeley said.

“The other plan was that if he passed his driving test he would be OK but he has failed twice, so at the moment it is a little bit up in the air.”

Heeley, whose side lost 1-0 to Stockport County at Edgeley Park on Monday, said travelling by public transport was also proving tough for Chilekwa.

“The difficulty we have is that if we bring him back to Worcester from a place like this (Stockport), he can’t get back to Cardiff because the last train has gone,” Heeley continued.

“That’s not fair and I have a duty of care to the lad. He is very young and I am not prepared to say it is your problem how you get back.

“I have to be really fair to him and until the situation changes I am not going to just dump him in Worcester.”