Pub worker left in safe in NSW robbery

A pub manager has been assaulted and shoved into a safe by two armed robbers, who fled with cash overnight in Sydney's southwest.

The masked men, one holding what appeared to be a handgun, entered the Padstow Park Hotel just after closing time in the early hours of Thursday, and forced a 53-year-old pub worker to open the hotel safe.

The pair then assaulted the manager, leaving him with a broken rib, and locked him in the safe before fleeing, police say.