CHESTER skipper Scott Burton has assured Blues fans that the club will reach this season’s play offs despite the side’s dramatic loss of form.

Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley’s men were beaten 2-0 at fellow promotion hopefuls Spennymoor on Saturday, a result that saw the Blues drop out of the play off positions after one win in the last six games.

But the one bright spot to emerge from the defeat was the return of Burton, who has faced a long lay off due to knee surgery since his last appearance in the FA Cup defeat at Dunston UTS on October 6.

“It’s been four months since my operation and I’ve worked hard to get back where I am today,” said Burton, 31.

“I didn’t expect to play the full game, but we had injuries again so I had to and for the last 15 minutes I was gone but there wasn’t a lot we could do about it. I tired but I looked at the bench and thought I’ve got to get my head down and get on with it.

“It feels good to be back and the fans haven’t seen the best of me yet. In the first half I felt I showed some good signs but in the second half we just got overrun and we tired.

“We’re having no luck with injuries and when the other team scores I don’t think we think we can score, so we just defend. There is something missing at the moment and we don’t really know what it is.”

Despite the Blues’ poor form which has seen them collect just five points from the last six games, they remain in touch with the promotion chasers and Burton is confident that is where they’ll remain.

“There is no need to worry yet and we’ve got plenty of time,” he said. “We’ll make the play offs and we’ve been here before. I’ve won this league and I think this team is good enough to get in the play-offs and win them. The fans don’t need to worry.

“At the end of the day if you look at our injuries we’ve got our best strikers coming back for the next game.”

As captain, Burton admits he must shoulder some of the responsibility for raising the morale of a dressing room the management has suggested is lacking in confidence, continuing: “We had that discussion at full time saying they expect more out of me as a captain and they’ll get that. It was my first game back and I’m the type of guy who will push my players and get them playing better. At the moment it’s just not going for us and we can’t put our finger on it.

“On the pitch I’m a shouter, but off the pitch I think people can talk to me and we’ll get there once we get players back from injury. All the senior players have had our say about what needs to happen and what we need to do and hopefully we can do it at Kidderminster.

“The message is don’t panic. There’s only a few points in it so with a couple of wins we’re back on the road.”

Kidderminster, who tackle Chester at Aggborough on Saturday, February 9, have appointed Mark Yates as their new manager.

“I can’t do anything about the last 28 games, but I’ve come into a club that’s two points outside the play-offs,” said Yates, who managed Kidderminster from 2006 to 2009.