ANDY Preece wants an all-action performance against Hednesford Town --as Worcester City's stars fight for their FA Cup jerseys.

City entertain their Midlands rivals at St George's Lane tomorrow striving for three vital Nationwide North points which could propel them out of the relegation zone.

They sunk back into the league's bottom two last Saturday while scrapping out a thrilling 1-1 draw with Chippenham Town in the FA Cup first round.

Hyde United's 3-0 victory at Gainsborough Trinity left City one place above marooned Vauxhall Motors.

A waterlogged pitch at Redditch United's Valley Stadium thwarted City's plans to move up the table on Tuesday night.

The FA Cup replay is three days away and the winners will pocket a staggering £91,000 bounty and a BBC-televised second round showdown against League One's Huddersfield Town.

With that in mind, player-manager Preece expects his players to bust a gut to claim a starting place on Monday night.

"There's a couple of good things about the FA Cup run," said Preece. "It might transfer itself into our league form and that's what we need right now.

"Also, people want to play a big part in the replay. They don't want to drop their standards because there's a chance for them to play in the cup and in front of another huge crowd.

"We need to play to a high standard against Hednesford because of the position we are in.

"It was almost inevitable last weekend that we would drop down a place or two. But looking at the league table, plenty of sides around us have played 14 games and we are on 12.

"So there's a couple of games in hand for us to get some points and move closer to mid-table."

Due to Worcester's precarious league position, Preece wants to select his strongest possible side against the Pitmen.

But with massive financial implications at stake in the FA Cup -- plus added national publicity -- the City boss might be tempted to rest one or two key players on this occasion.

The biggest question mark lies in midfield. Graham Hyde, George Clegg and Nick Colley, all substitutes against Chippenham, will all be desperate for run-outs.

Former Hednesford full-back Les Hines, left out of City's squad altogether at Hardenhuish Park, is also keen to wrestle the left-hand berth away from Liam McDonald and face his old club.

It is unlikely, though, Preece will tinker with the established back-three of Des Lyttle, Justin Thompson and Chris Smith.

Elsewhere, young striker James Smith is out for another three weeks following a recurrence of his neck injury, while defender Shabir Khan, 20 yesterday, is back in light training following a groin problem.

Preece added: "It's brilliant to have three or four players back, such as Les, Nick and Cleggy. The lads who have been in the side will have to look over their shoulder. We've got good competition for places.

"You need that game after game. We need a squad and, fortunately, some of the players who have come in have shown they can do a job."

n Redditch United head to Workington tomorrow (1pm).