MANAGER Ashley Vincent has lauded his rookies for rising above the “unnecessary tension” surrounding Worcester City’s tough start to the season.

The City boss and some of his players found themselves under the spotlight, particularly after a much-changed team got ousted from the Worcestershire Senior Cup on penalties by local rivals Malvern Town following a madcap 5-5 draw.

Vincent’s charges have since put together four straight wins, including finding their shooting boots in the league which had been a bone of contention all season.

A bumper 15-goal haul in two matches – a 9-0 win over Racing Club Warwick that marked City’s biggest win for 43 years and a 6-0 beating on Lye Town – beats the tally of 13 from the previous 11 league outings ahead of tomorrow’s Midland Football League Premier Division trip to Coventry Sphinx (3pm).

Asked about overcoming the criticism, Vincent said: “That’s football and I am not interested in stick.

“The winning is not for me, it is for the boys in the dressing room who put in all the effort and it is those young lads who I feel responsible for.

“They take stick from quarters that have experience in football and (those people) know these are young men, maybe they are out to cause unnecessary tension for them.

“It is unneeded and certainly unwanted but that’s football sometimes.

“What the lads have done – and I am particularly pleased for the younger boys in the dressing room on this – is showed their spirit and character, that they are willing to knuckle down, work harder and put their chins up and chests out to prove people wrong.

“It is not about me proving people wrong, I put out a team that I think can win games. We coach them and know we do the right things.

“I have been in football a long time, I know that when you lose a game you’re no good and when you win you’re the best thing since sliced bread.

“Neither is the case, we have won two games in the league and we need more to move up the table but we have had four wins out of four including the cups so the confidence is there and we are scoring goals.

“I am happy with that but now we have keep driving that home because we want to go on a proper run.”