CITY kitman John Duckworth and his merry band of walkers are entitled to put their feet up this week after a charity slog from Southend.

But he insists it was worth all the pain after netting over £5,200 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Duckworth and fans Emma and Mark Tillotson and Scott Merifield traipsed all the way back from City’s final away game in Essex to arrive at Valley Parade before Sunday’s win over Chesterfield.

The 211-mile walk took its toll but Duckworth said that teamwork got them through.

“I don’t think I’m in one piece. The feet upwards might be okay but they are absolutely shattered.

“It’s the same for all four of us. We are all suffering but we kept each other going.

“If there was a team of the year, it should be us.

“It’s been tremendous. To say that we’ve been together for eight days and nobody has fallen out shows that we are great friends.

“We were always looking out for each other so there wasn’t a problem.”

The route had been mapped out beforehand but they had to tinker with it before each day to avoid confronting too much traffic.

Duckworth laughed: “I got a new nickname on the first day ‘dangerous and arrogant’ because I’d stand there and make the wagons that were coming towards us move.

“Obviously you’ve got to avoid them so we changed it round. We couldn’t go up the A1 so we had to go across certain little roads.

“Some were better than others but we just prayed for a pavement “When you’re feet get to such a stage you can’t walk on grass. You prefer hard surfaces rather than all the undulations.

“If it wasn’t for the people, we wouldn’t do it. It’s worth the pain.

“Last time I looked we’d raised over £5,200 with more money to collect.

“It’s for a great cause and putting a smile on their face is what it’s all about.

“If anyone even mentions another walk we’ll never do it again. But we said that last year.”

Donations can still be made at justgiving.com/BantamsTrek2016 or by texting BANT66 followed by the amount (such as BANT66 £5) to 70070.