WORCESTER City will look at their remaining six fixtures and breathe a sigh of relief.

The Blue and Whites face a run of games against lower-ranked teams having endured a torrid set of matches in the past fortnight which have cruelly exposed their shortcomings of being a play-off contender.

While the reasons for that are well documented and stem back to the FA Cup run and the sale of George Williams, it hasn’t made it any easier for them.

Carl Heeley’s side have picked up some good results in the past four months – Solihull Moors away and Stockport County at home among them – but they have struggled against the major players.

Fylde swept them aside, as did Barrow although the Cumbrians were made to work much harder for the points.

It was a similar story at promotion-chasing Boston United as Worcester did plenty of huffing and puffing but were found wanting in the key areas.

Their lack of creativity in front of goal was again a concern with on-loan Sunderland keeper Max Stryjek barely troubled throughout a windswept contest at the Jakemans Stadium.

By contrast, opposite number Ryan Boot was on his toes from start to finish and, had it not been for his intervention on several occasions, City would have lost by more.

The 20-year-old has been a key component in preserving City’s dignity many a time since arriving from Port Vale in February and his performances will have alerted the League One club to the talent on their books.

After seeing Mark Jones glance a header beyond him in the eighth minute, Boot raced off his line to smother at the feet of Dayle Southwell before again playing a part in keeping the score down.

He used his feet to deny Jones, after which Southwell headed the rebound against the bar and Jake Sheridan blasted the loose ball over with the goal at his mercy.

Boot then demonstrated superb reflexes to push away Carl Piergianni’s header before the break and produced similar agility to thwart Southwell after Jones squared the ball across the box in the second-half.

But he was helpless when substitute Nicky Walker rattled the bar and left exposed when Anthony Charles was robbed in the box with two minutes left by Southwell, who wrapped up the points.

City also experimented by starting Kyle Haynes in midfield and using Jacob Rowe at right-back.

Rob Elvins later found himself shifted into midfield and Aaron Brown played more than half-an-hour as a second-half substitute as the target man up front.

All of which have their merits as Worcester begin to turn their attentions to next season, which has to be the focus over the next six games.