YORK CITY boss Nigel Worthington remained upbeat despite a late show from Tranmere Rovers denying his side a three-point haul from their opening Sky Bet League Two encounter.

The Minstermen, thanks to Keith Lowe’s second half goal, looked to be on their way to victory at Prenton Park only for James Rowe to rescue a point for the home side with a stoppage time equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

Worthington said his new look side would have to quickly learn to see out matches when in winning positions but a reflective Bootham Crescent chief said: “That’s the game of football.

“I thought it was a very good point away from home. If you had said that to me prior to the game I would have taken it.

“They have just come out of League One, we were away from home but you are so close to getting the three.

“We must learn to manage that last two minutes to see it through. There was a lot of endeavour out there, a lot of good play at times. I would like us to tidy up the passing and make it a little bit crisper but that will come with games.

“I was very pleased with the performance and the commitment.”

“The players are disappointed,” he added. “That’s life. You deal with it, it is how you bounce back. There are a lot of good things to take out of the game. The big thing we have got to learn is to manage the game and see it through to the final whistle.

“We had two opportunities to clear the ball on the left hand side and just knock it in behind and squeeze up. We played a silly little ball inside and then, the second one, we chipped the ball about 20 yards just over the half-way line which Tranmere picked up and it is coming back at you.

“It’s about keeping the ball, putting the ball in behind the opposition, getting yourself up the pitch and trying to get a throw in and a corner.

“But they have got League One players in that group. The only disappointment is that you are so close but, in the game, so far away.

“We will take a point and we will move on.”

Worthington was without major summer signing Jake Hyde, the former Barnet striker injuring a knee in a training ground challenge with Michael Ingham last Thursday.

“He had a coming together and it’s just a bump at the top of the calf,” he said. “It can be quite sore but I would like to think he shouldn’t be too far away.”