Callum Hassan drums up 'home' support

The 22-year-old is hoping to get another start as Telford collide with Worcester City in a basement battle at Aggborough.

Worcester share their temporary home with landlords Kidderminster Harriers, where Hassan was plying his trade until recently.

And, with Harriers away at Braintree in Essex, Hassan is hoping a few Kidderminster fans cheer him on.

He said: "It's going to be mental! I was only at Kidderminster for a short time but I built up a bit of a rapport with the fans at Aggborough.

"They're good supporters so I have a lot of respect for them. Hopefully, some of them can come and cheer me on."

Hassan only had three games for Harriers, scoring once, after they failed to come up with a contract for him, but he used the time wisely, as he got vital match fitness and built up his sharpness.

He was forced to wait for his chance at Telford, but made his first start in last weekend's 5-1 home defeat to leaders Nuneaton.

He said: "I had three games at Kidderminster and you feel better and sharper in yourself when you start playing 90 minutes.

"Coming here, I thought I could have carried on but the team was on a good run so the gaffer left me on the bench and I understood that.

"Hopefully now I'll get a run of starts and start getting my full fitness."

After two years out of the game following the death of his mother, Hassan had to embark on a strict fitness regime to get him in shape again.

So far, he's shed two-and-a-half stone after working out with, among others, former Burnley and Bradford striker Robbie Blake.

Hassan said: "I've dropped a lot of weight since I got back into football. I was doing a lot of weights and I managed to lose two-and-a-half stone.

"I was 17 stone and now I'm just under 15. I was a big lad and my agent got together with Jeff Smith, who used to play for Bolton and is now a personal trainer.

"He put a few sessions on for me and I had Robbie helping me out. It's hard to get rid of muscle, but I managed to get the weight off.

"I thought 'I've worked hard so let's not let anything slip' and I managed to get something at Kidderminster.

"Then I got a phone call saying they couldn't come up with a deal to keep me and they were letting me go. Within about three hours, I had about four clubs on to me.

"I had Larry (Chambers, Telford assistant boss) ringing me a lot as well as a few teams in this league, but Larry made promises that he's kept so far. Hopefully, I can do something for the club."

Tomorrow's clash is fourth bottom versus bottom and kicks off a spell for Telford of five out of the next six league games against teams in the current bottom nine.

Hassan added: "These next few games are vital. They're going to be battles in order to stay up and we need some wins."