CHESTER boss Neil Young is hoping to bolster his squad ahead of Saturday’s home league match against Mickleover Sports.
Young revealed he has been given the go-ahead from the board to sign an experienced defender on a short-term deal after confirming the Blues may have to line-up without club captain George Horan.
“I’ve received the green light from the club to have a look at signing a defender and I’ve already spoken to a few clubs about the possibility of doing a deal,” Young said.
“The player I would like to bring to Chester is from the Conference and I’d like to try and complete a deal before our match at the weekend.
“George has been struggling with a knee injury that requires surgery and he’s due to have a scan today, so we’ll wait for the results of that and then decide whether he needs an operation or if he can play for the rest of the season.”
Young also confirmed that Chester-born home debutant Levi Mackin was expected to be sidelined for a minimum of eight weeks after breaking his collarbone in Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat against Hednesford Town.
The Pitmen’s boss, Rob Smith, meanwhile, has tipped the Blues to win the Northern Premier League title.
The Blues suffered their third defeat of the season against the second-placed Pitmen who are now level on points with Chester after Saturday’s 2-1 league victory at the Exacta Stadium.
Smith, who was delighted to see his team beat Chester and is preparing for a league match at Marine tonight, has said that any talk of a Hednesford title success is just a pipedream.
Smith said: "Chester is a tough place to come because they have a side that is packed with quality players.
"I still believe that Chester will win the league, but I was just proud of my team's performance on Saturday because we gave it everything and we showed we are a good football side.
"Some people have accused us of being a bit physical, but we're not. We're just competitive and we showed that against Chester.
"I don't think we've got the indian sign over Chester, I just think that on our day we can beat anybody.
"It was a very close game against Chester at our place and it was a very close game again on Saturday. It could have gone either way, but we're not a bad side when we get the ball down and play."
Smith revealed his game plan on Saturday was to frustrate the Blues and snatch a goal towards the end of the contest.
He added: "Our game plan was to try and frustrate Chester as much as we could until the last 20 minutes and maybe nick something because I would have been delighted with a draw, but we got the bonus of two goals in the first half.
"Everybody could see how pleased the players and our fans were with the result by the way we celebrated at the end.
"Our aim all season has been to win a play-off place, but it's going to be tough because the teams below us keep winning.
"We've got Marine away tonight and then FC United of Manchester away, and a match against Northwich next Tuesday, but we want to stick in there and if we get into the play-offs I'll be absolutely over the moon and that's the honest truth.
"Anything more than that really would be a pipedream."
- Premier Division club Worksop Town entertain Conference Premier side Newport County tonight in their rearranged FA Trophy second round tie.
- Marine have signed Southport midfielder Michael Ordish in a one month loan deal.
Ordish, 19, was signed at the age of 16 by Celtic where he played for the youth team until joining Southport at the start of this season.
Meanwhile, striker Darren Byers has returned to Marine after a three month loan spell at Bootle, while defender Matty Brown needs a hernia operation and Thomas Moore is suspended for three games.