ANTHONY JOHNSON says his Chester side will adopt a “siege mentality’ for tomorrow’s FA Cup second qualifying round trip to Worksop.

The Blues won’t have any supporters in attendance when they begin their 2020-21 season against the Northern Premier League Division One South East outfit at Sandy Lane.

Only home fans can attend ties where a ‘non-elite’ club hosts an ‘elite club’.

Clubs at steps one and two of the FA National League System - the National League and National League North and South - are considered by the FA as “elite”, while those who play at step three and below are considered “non-elite”.

And joint-manager Johnson’s response was clear.

“It is a siege mentality,” said Johnson. “There are 20 of us going down to Worksop for a fight against the whole town.

“There is no back-up, it is just us.

“Get off the coach, go into the ground, play the football, get back on the coach and go home with no support apart from afar.

“You are playing an FA Cup game from a team lower down the pyramid with no support so it is siege mentality time for us.”

Johnson is just looking forward to playing a competitive match before Chester begin their league campaign with Tuesday’s trip to Kidderminster Harriers.

“The excitement that we have got after five or six weeks of pre-season not knowing when it is going to start, it is now a day away,” said Johnson, who will be looking for Danny Elliott to continue his fine friendly form.

“But we are ready and we are absolutely looking forward to it.

“It is a bit bizarre playing an FA Cup game as your first game of the season and then we have got Kidderminster away on Tuesday.

“We have got the bit between our teeth; it doesn’t matter who we are playing against or what level they are at, or how they have started their season.

“For us it is a game of competitive football; we have had a really good pre-season but the lads now want it to be real, they want something on the line with a meaning to the game.”

Tomorrow’s start date was in doubt after plans to allow spectators into grounds were shelved last week.

It was feared that without Government intervention, many of the 67 clubs in the National League, National League North and National League South could have faced financial ruin if they did not have matchday revenue to rely on

However those clubs have been told they will receive an offer of financial aid from the Government and Johnson welcomed the decision.

“When you look at clubs from League One I suppose all the way down to National League North and South, they based their budget on having lower crowds,” added Johnson.

“Then 10 days before the season starts, they tell us that no crowds are allowed but no back-up for what is going to be our revenue and main source of income.

“We were left in limbo so the news saying they are going to put together some sort of plan in place for National League, National League North and National League South clubs is music to our ears.”

Iwan Williams, left, is set to join Chester’s coaching staff to fill the void left by Neil Hart and Calum McIntyre. The former Connah’s Quay midfielder has been Bangor 1876’s director of football.