Harriers dominated the opening 45 minutes and created enough opportunities to take something from the National League encounter, but two second-half goals turned the contest in the visitors' favour.

Wotton admitted his side had been left to rue missed chances, despite a performance that offered plenty of encouragement.

He said: "The most chances we've created since I've been here. So, hugely frustrating, hugely frustrating.

"But if you don't take your chances, you're always up against it, and you're always susceptible to conceding a goal. We can't always rely on a clean sheet."

Lewis Walker saw an effort cleared off the line after 24 minutes before Harriers suffered yet another injury setback, Owen Evans forced off with a hamstring problem.

Despite that disruption, Ben Crompton fired the hosts ahead from close range on 43 minutes, giving Harriers a deserved interval advantage.

Worthing responded after the break, however, with Razzaq Coleman De-Graft levelling on 58 minutes before Cory Adjetey-Brew completed the turnaround with a counter-attacking goal ten minutes later.

Harriers also lost Zak Brown to a quad injury, further stretching a squad already depleted by the loss of Callum Dolan and Connor Mahoney.

Wotton, however, refused to use injuries and a player shortage as an excuse, saying: "And I'm not going to be that guy who sits here and goes: ‘we're down to the bare bones’

“We had no wingers, other than Michael [Reindorf] who came into the building yesterday, so we had no forward changes really, which was really disappointing."

Reindorf made his Harriers debut from the bench on 71 minutes as the hosts attempted to find a response.

Callum Stewart had opportunities to restore parity, while Walker was twice denied at point-blank range by Worthing goalkeeper Taylor Seymour, who produced a string of important saves.

Walker then headed fractionally over in the 93rd minute as Harriers' attempts to salvage a point ultimately proved unsuccessful.

Wotton felt his players deserved credit for their efforts despite the result, adding: "I'll never question their desire, their work rate and their effort. Sometimes we can be better and calmer on the ball, but we've created enough chances there to win two games of football comfortably."

The Harriers boss also confirmed Richard Faakye, yellow carded in the match, would now serve a suspension, adding to the selection difficulties ahead of Tuesday's fixture at Altrincham in the National League.