ANDY Preece says he will return to Worcester City proud of what he achieved at the club.

The Northwich Victoria manager will be at St George’s Lane for the FA Trophy first round clash on Saturday, December 11.

It will be the first time he has been back since being sacked as player-manager in October 2007, six months after Andy Morrison quit as his assistant.

During his time with City, Preece led the team to seventh, eighth and ninth placed finishes in Conference North and also to the second round of the FA Cup, when they lost to Huddersfield live on TV.

He said: “I’m proud of the job we did and will go back with a lot of happy memories. It was an enjoyable time in my managerial career.

“The vast majority of Worcester fans and people associated with the club are grateful for what we did there. There’s no bitterness on my part.

“I didn’t get a chance to say thanks to the fans that supported us through such a successful time. It will be nice to go back and see so many familiar faces.

“However, there’s a game to be won but I have got nothing but really good memories from my time there.”

Preece added: “It was a really successful time and I think people only realise how well we did when they look back.

“But for the problems of other clubs, City would have been relegated last season.

“People know now what sort of problems there are at the club. Those are the same conditions that we were working under and we got three top-10 finishes.

“We reached the last 16 of the FA Trophy and the second round of the FA Cup. We left a good legacy.”

Northwich booked their place against City with a 1-0 third qualifying round replay win against Whitby Town.

However, the EvoStik Premier Division side, kicked out of Conference North in the summer because of financial problems, have been blighted by injuries.

Preece said: “We’d love to win, we’re desperate to. But we have to be realistic at the same time. If we go through it will be an upset because we’re starting the tie as underdogs.

“The good thing for Northwich is that the pressure and expectation is on Worcester. I just hope we can pick as close to our strongest team as possible to give them a game.”