City look to put the midweek FA Cup exit at the hands of Barrow behind them as they entertain AFC Wimbledon at Deva Stadium tomorrow (15:00hrs). Manager Jim Harvey will have both Nick Chadwick and Glenn Rule available following suspension through there are doubts over Anthony Barry and Michael Lea who limped off in the midweek defeat.

Ahead of the match City manager Jim Harvey told the Daily Post; “Wimbledon will be another tough game but they are all very tough at this level. All we can do is look to the next game and try to improve on the mistakes we made against Barrow. I have been through bad times as a footballer and when the next match comes around, it’s a test of character.”

“This will determine whether people are going to make it or not as footballers. You have to overcome the disappointments you receive, because there are plenty of them.”

AFC set off this morning for the match, they are training in Cheadle this afternoon prior to their overnight stay. Dons manager Terry Brown will be without the injured duo Jay Conroy and Kennedy Adjei whilst Derek Duncan is also missing through suspension. They come to Deva Stadium lying just outside the play-off places in eighth position thanks to an impressive away track record of five wins and two draws in their eight matches. Their only defeat came at Eastbourne Borough.

• Conference table

Three goals in five second half minutes brought to an abrupt end Chester’s progress in this years FA Cup competition. The game was evenly poised on 73 minutes when City goalkeeper John Danby was penalised for handling a Neil Ashton back-pass, Andrew Bond hammered the resulting free-kick through the City wall and past Danby.

A minute later Jason Walker doubled the advantage from the penalty spot following a foul by Ashton.

A shell-shocked City found themselves three down a minutes later as Bond headed home and the misery was complete in the final minute as substitute Andy Cook scored from 20 yards though very few City fans were left in the ground by then to witness it.

A disappointed Jim Harvey said following the defeat: “Tonight’s game proved how much goals make a difference. But I was disappointed that we conceded a free kick for our keeper collecting a back pass because that law was introduced originally to prevent time-wasting.”

“Neil Ashton had been tracked across the six yard box under pressure and the ball came off his shin and his knee and our keeper came out and picked the ball up. I thought it was a poor refereeing decision.”

The Football Conference have extended the deadline given to the club to pay off their Football creditors. Following discussions over the past week the club have until 16 November to satisfy the Football League over certain unnamed issues referred to them regarding the club.

The Conference have issued the following statement...

“Following a notice issued to Chester City FC by the Football Conference on Monday, 19th October 2009 relating to the Club’s failure to comply with a compromise agreement containing the Club’s conditions of membership, and a subsequent statement referring to the non-payment of football creditors, a further statement is issued as follows:-

Discussions between the Football Conference, the Football League, the Professional Footballers Association and Chester City FC have taken place during the past seven days, and are on-going.

In the light of the wish of all parties to seek a satisfactory resolution the Football Conference has agreed to defer any decision on the Club’s future membership until Monday, 16th November 2009, enabling the Football League to discuss certain issues which have been referred to its Board of Directors.

Chester have been handed a home tie with Slue Square South side Eastleigh should they progress in the competition. The Hampshire side won through with a 5-3 win at Dover Athletic yesterday to make the first round for the first time in the clubs history.

City must first beat their Conference opponents Barrow in Tuesday night’s replay at Deva Stadium. Jonny Flynn gave City the lead at Holker Street on Saturday on 15 minutes tucking the ball home past Barrow ’keeper Stuart Tomlinson but the home side leveled through ex-City midfielder Paul Rutherford on 66 minutes.

Blues manager Jim Harvey thought his side had done enough to win at Holker Street. He said: “I thought we had enough chances to have won the game. There were three or four occasions when we should have wrapped it up. It was pleasing to see young Jonathan Flynn score his first goal for us, and I also thought he handled his defensive duties well. The players are enjoying training, and adapting to the methods and style of play we are asking them for.”

Manager Jim Harvey is hoping to name an unchanged side tomorrow as City travel to the Holker Street Stadium to play Barrow in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup. The only doubt appears to be Gregg Blundell who has a slight hamstring injury from last Saturday’s 1-0 win at Gateshead. This is the first meeting between the sides since October 2001 when the Bluebirds defeated Steve Mungall’s City side 1-0.

The football club have been told they have until 17:30hrs on Monday to pay off their football creditors of face possible expulsion from the Football Conference. The club have had a transfer embargo placed on their once again after failing to pay off debts to both Vauxhall Motors for the Paul Taylor (left) signing and Wrexham football club for last months share of the away ticket sales for the match played at the Racecourse. As yet the total amount owed has not been revealed.

The Conference have issued the following statement.

In accordance with Membership Rule 11 – for the non-payment of football creditors – Chester City FC have been placed under an immediate player embargo, in as much that:

1. Chester City FC has not complied with the terms of the compromise agreement set by the Football Conference to allow the club to participate in the competition at the commencement of the current season; and further to that fact, the club has been given 7 days, operative up to 5.30pm 26th October 2009, in which to meet the said payment terms of that agreement, otherwise they face the threat of expulsion from the Football Conference.

2. Chester City FC has failed to pay monies owing to Wrexham FC for away ticket sales relating to their fixture played on 27th September 2009 and further to that fact, the club has failed to meet a 7-day payment deadline imposed by the Football Conference.

3. Chester City has failed to pay Vauxhall Motors FC monies owed in relation to the loan of Paul Taylor, which should have been met no later than 14th October 2009.

Club owner Steve Vaughan has gone on the offensive insisting that football creditors will be paid once money from the Football League and the Conference that are owed to the club are paid. He told BBC radio Merseyside:

“I want to know when our debtors are going to pay us. The Football League owe us £99,965 from our parachute payments, as part of the parachute payment of £225,000.”

“The Conference owe us £35,000, £5,000 being part of the central funding and £30,000 being from the Premier League gift. The Football Conference are saying that we owe those two clubs, which we do.”

After months of negotiations and hard work, City Fans United hold their inaugural meeting tonight at the Divas Showbar (formerly Royal Mail Social Club) on Station Road, Chester, at 20:00hrs. All City fans are encouraged to attend, and help steer City back to where they belong. No doubt the latest threat over the future of the club will be the main talking point for the open forum. Meeting Agenda 7.30 People start to arrive. CFU memberships can be processed instantly. 8.00-8.10 Welcome and introductions – Charlie Lambert 8.10-8.25 CFU – what it’s all about, aims - Mike Poole 8.25–8.35 Why you should join CFU – Mark Howell 8.35-8.50 Presentation – Peter Mitchell 8.50-8.55 Junior Blues – Mike Poole 8.55-9.00 Legends Night – Jeff Banks 9.00-10.00 Open Forum – Charlie Lambert • Invite comments • Seek a steer from those present on how CFU should progress • Question and answer 10.00 Close. Supporters can email register@cityfansunited.com for more information. • Download membership forms here.

A first goal on his return to the club by Mark Beesley gave Chester a deserved win at Gateshead to complete the double over The Heed. City turned in their best showing of the season and are now unbeaten in their last seven away matches. Manager Jim Harvey was delighted with the performance of the team that also included encouraging debuts from defender Jonathan Flynn and midfielder Michael Coulson.

The only goal of the game came in the 57th minute when an Anthony Barry effort deflected into the path of Beesley who shot past Paul Farman in the home goal from close range. Earlier Coulson had hit the bar from a narrow angle following a neat through ball from Gregg Blundell.

Harvey said: “Gateshead have a reputation as a good footballing side but we were head and shoulders above them and some of our approach play was out of the top drawer. It was a really positive performance and result. We could have been three of four up at half-time.”

“I thought there were some terrific individual performances and there were lots of things that really pleased me. I was happy with every one of my players’ performances, even with the boys who travelled with us to Gateshead.”

“We had a great atmosphere and you could see the smiles on the boys faces now that they have got a win. The boys were saying that was the best they had played by a distance. If that’s the case then we’ve still got a lot to do and it doesn’t make the job any easier, but if you have happy people then it gives us a chance and they’ll turn up on Monday for training with a smile on their faces.”

City travel to Gateshead tomorrow looking to complete the double over the north east side following a 2-1 win at Deva Stadium a month ago. This will be the club’s first-ever visit to the International Stadium. Featuring for the home side will be former City favourite Daryl Clare (left) who has signed a three month loan deal from Mansfield Town. Clare scored 48 goals in just 62 appearances during his time at Chester which helped them win the Conference championship.

Manager Jim Harvey has selection problems ahead of the game. Out are Glenn Rule and Nick Chadwick through suspension, while young defender Kristian Platt is out for several weeks after breaking a leg in an accident at home.

To overcome the current player shortfall it’s reported that Harvey has dipped into the loan market to sign Barnsley striker Michael Coulson on a month’s contract, the Blues are also hoping to sign two Blackburn Rovers youngsters on a similar deal.

Chester chairman Ian Anderson said: “We have completed the signing of Michael Coulson from Barnsley. And we will complete the loan transfers of Jonathan Flynn and Andy Hayworth from Blackburn Rovers on Friday.”

The City Youth Team drew 1-1 with rivals Wrexham on Saturday in their away Youth Alliance League fixture. Connel Rawlinson was on target for the Blues. • Match pictures | Youth team fixtures | Youth table Picture © Vicky Coulter

Striker Mark Beesley becomes the latest ex-player to return to Deva Stadium after signing on loan from Cambridge United for a month. Beesley played under current manager Jim Harvey at Forest Green Rovers.

The striker left Deva Stadium after four seasons in 2003 after scoring 36 goals in 92+18 appearances to join Hereford United. He remained at Edgar Street for just one season before moving to Forest Green Rovers in 2004. He remained there until January 2008 before his move to the Abbey Stadium.

Beesley will be allowed to play for City in their FA Cup campaign which starts with a fourth round qualifying match later this month.

Tomorrow City entertain mid-table Rushden & Diamonds at Deva Stadium.

• Online BBC radio match commentary
• Chester hit rock bottom [BBC article by Jonathan Legard]

The club have announced that Jim Harvey will take over as manager at Deva Stadium until the end of the season. Harvey has previously managed at Morecambe, where he spent 12 seasons and latterly at Forest Green Rovers, where he left two months ago. Harvey, who has a good track record at Conference management, told The Chester Chronicle: “Obviously, it will be a difficult job because of the points deduction. We are going to have to put in some tremendous performances, and get some excellent results to avoid relegation. I have met the players, and we will now prepare for the game against Rushden on Saturday.”

“An awful lot of work is going to have to be done to give us that chance, but that’s the challenge and it’s something that we’ll assess and we’ll look at as we go along. At this moment in time I wouldn’t like to forecast anything more than that.”

Harvey’s first game in charge will be on Saturday as the Blues entertain mid-table Rushden & Diamonds. Assisting Harvey in his duties will be experienced player Tim Ryan.

City Fans United hold their inaugural meeting at the Divas Showbar (formerly Royal Mail Social Club) on Station Road, Chester, at 20:00hrs on the 22nd October. All City fans are encouraged to attend, and help steer City back to where they belong. Supporters can email register@cityfansunited.com for more information.

A goal from Ben Whitcomb gave the youth team a 1-0 win in their FA Cup second qualifying round match at Lancaster City last night. The Blues are on the road again in the third round when they will play either Liversage or Thackley on Monday 19 October (19:00hrs). • Match pictures | Youth team fixtures Ben Whitcomb scores the winning goal. Picture © Vicky Coulter

Despite dominating for must of the tie the youth team were beaten on penalties by Stockport County in the first round of the Youth Alliance Cup on Saturday. The Blues led through a Ben Whitcomb free-kick only to be pegged back before the interval. A Sam Coulter header after the break looked to have given City a deserved victory only for the home side to draw level deep into added time. There were no goals in extra-time before the young Blues were finally beaten 5-3 on spot-kicks. • Match pictures | Youth team fixtures Goalscorer Ben Whitcomb. Picture © Vicky Coulter

Coach Billy Gerrard (left) and suspended captain Tim Ryan will take charge of the City side tomorrow when they visit Church Road to play the team immediately above them Hayes & Yeading United.

Ryan will miss out after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the midweek home defeat by Forest Green Rovers. That defeat cost Mick Wadsworth his job and tomorrow's duo step in while the club hunt for another manager to take on the almost impossible Deva challenge of keeping the side in the Conference.

Also missing tomorrow is defender Chris Lynch who is out for the rest of the season after picking up a cruciate knee ligament injury in the draw at Wrexham on Sunday.

Ahead of the match Ryan said: “There are no easy games in this league and Hayes will be wanting to out-football or out-battle us. They’ll want to kick us off the pitch and physically out-strengthen us. Hayes won’t be an easy game by any stretch of the imagination, and I’ve told the players that, and nobody will be going into the game thinking we’ll have an easy game. We’ll be going into the game full of passion and wanting to win the match.”

Hayes & Yeading were promoted from the Conference South last season and have found the going tough so far. In seven attempts they have yet to win at home this season, while City have not won on their travels either.

City’s last visit to the west London ground produced a 3-1 win back in August 2001. The goals that day were scored by Dean Spink and a brace from Mark Beesley.

•Conference table