HARD-to-please assistant boss Ashley Vincent made no apology for keeping Worcester City “on their toes” by swooping for three new signings.

Striker Bradley Reid, right-sided playmaker Josh Hesson and centre-half Drew Ricketts all debuted in City’s 3-1 win at FC Stratford in the Midland Football League Cup on Tuesday.

Hesson, a Wolves scholar released at the end of last season, and Ricketts, dual registered with Coleshill Town having left Tamworth over the summer, were unveiled as new recruits on the day of the match.

City have not been beaten in 12 matches in all competitions with the only setback being a penalty shootout exit from the FA Cup but Vincent revealed the September shake-up had been prompted by off-colour performances of late.

“We had been really disappointed with our past three games and looking to up our performance levels,” he said.

“To be successful you need to put together these runs and maintain them but recently, the displays have not been good enough.

“That’s why we’re looking for the right players to give us another push and put that spring in our step to move forward.

“We felt we needed a fresh face, maybe two. There were three there for us to look at against Stratford and it keeps the boys on their toes.

“I thought the new lads did well. Drew talked really well and showed he knows the game by how well he communicated.

“Josh has a good pedigree. He hasn’t played since July and while he will need to get up to speed I thought he was brilliant, he was sharp and quick and that footballing education he picked up at Wolves shone through.

“Bradley is a big target man, he needs to build up his fitness as well but scored a lovely goal. We will need to see a bit more of him to judge what he can add.

“When Dave Reynolds left we felt we needed someone to share the load but also take the brunt of the blows up front, act as more of a target man and Bradley did that.

“I think he could still do more, he has a record of scoring at a higher level than this and that should come with match fitness.”

Assessing the action, Vincent added: “I think the early goal came from not knowing each other, we had three new players including one in the back three so that can happen.

“In fits and starts we played our football. We looked like a team that hadn’t played together much but in the end our quality showed."

Worcester face a trip to Premier Division rivals Highgate United in round two.