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Stockport County manager Neil Young has called for “a big improvement” from his players after they struggled to break down Worcester City on Saturday.

The Hatters laboured to a 0-0 draw at Edgeley Park against their 21st-placed visitors, before having striker Lamin Colley sent off at the death to cap a frustrating day for Young’s promotion chasers.

And Young explains that his side’s improvement since last season has been detrimental to County’s chances of success against struggling clubs at home.

“Last year, teams would come to Edgeley Park and try to win games here, which opened the games up for us to go and attack,” said Young.

“We’ve started this season well and sides are obviously a bit more wary of that, and they’re coming here, first and foremost, to not get beat.

“It’s not always as simple as just having a team put in front of you and knocking them down. Look at any number of the European qualifiers this week - Wales struggled to break down Israel at home, as did Belgium at Cyprus - and that’s rife throughout modern football.”

County had the lion’s share of possession against Worcester in front of another impressive crowd, but failed to create any major chances in front of goal against a stubborn away defence.

IN PICTURES: COUNTY'S 3-2 WIN AT AFC FYLDE

It is only the second time this season that Young’s hard-to-beat squad has failed to find the net, following last week’s controversial 0-3 reverse against neighbours Stalybridge Celtic.

“We have to work on breaking teams down, Young added. “Doing the bare minimum isn’t enough.

“But also, when we do get that one chance and carve an opening, we have to take it and then suddenly there’s no real concerns over breaking defensive sides down.”

Despite the failure to convert, the former Chester manager praised a “good all-round performance” and once again outlined his desire for improvements from his “error-prone” side.

“I think football-wise, we played some good stuff and dominated pretty much throughout – which we haven’t yet done in a full match at home,” he said.

“It’s just the silly mistakes which get me. We’re learning as we go, but we still demand players to get the job done in the here and now, and if we cut out the daft errors, we’re probably looking at a few more points on the board.”