WORCESTER City's inability to win more than one game in a row is costing them dearly says manager Andy Preece.

City host Nationwide North basement boys Lancaster City tonight (7.45pm) in their final league game this month that has so far seen them take just five points from five games.

The latest setback saw Worcester beaten 2-1 at lowly Leigh RMI on Saturday, the second time they have succumbed to the Railwaymen this season after losing by the same score in December.

Preece said: "We can't seem to string two results together. Two victories in this league will push you right into the play-offs.

"We just can't seem to do it. When the pressure is on to get a result, we just don't have the bottle to do it or the nouse to do it.

"I think the lads have got the desire and they want to do it, we just haven't got the skill to do it at this moment in time."

He added: "We didn't play well and they deserved to win the game. We were a bit unlucky when we played at home but ultimately if you are going to do anything you can't be losing six points to Leigh in a season."

Preece accepts City only have themselves to blame and knows they will have to get points at current leaders Droylsden and high-flying Hinckley next Saturday and Monday.

"It gets no easier and we knew that," the player-manager said. "We knew February would be a key month for us and we'd have to be up in the play-offs by the end of that month and even if we get three points against Lancaster it's going to be very unlikely.

"We might be three or four points off where we want to be so we're going to have to go to tough places like Droylsden and Hinckley and get results."

He added: "The players are better than what they are showing individually and collectively. Everybody is getting an opportunity to show what they can do and at the minute we are coming up short.

"We have played probably every system under the sun over the last few weeks.

"It's got nothing to do with that. It's to do with individuals performing at their best and we're not performing at our best at the minute and if you don't then you're going to find things very difficult."

Graham Ward is suspended for tonight's match while Adam Burley is a doubt after tweaking his hamstring half an hour into Saturday's match.