Jon Kennedy [GK] (Accrington Stanley), James Bittner [GK] (Exeter City), Anthony Charles (Farnborough Town), David Perkins (Morecambe), Jon Boardman (Woking), Danny Collins (Chester City), Peter Cavanagh (Accrington Stanley), Gareth Sheldon (Exeter City), Sam Ricketts (Telford United), Adam Miller (Aldershot Town), Scott Kerr (Scarborough), Robert Purdie (Hereford United), Luke Rodgers (Shrewsbury Town), Roscoe D’Sane (Aldershot Town), Karl Murray (Woking), James Coppinger (Exeter City).

Team manager Paul Fairclough said: “On 11 February I would hope that all football fans and families who want to enjoy a great game of football come out in force to support the whole team, as well as Sam (Ricketts) and Luke (Rodgers) who will be local England heroes. A growing number of players are using this team as the launchpad into League football, and you may well see some of the future stars of English football at Telford, as we attempt to beat the best young talent in Italian football.”

Manager Wright said: “Saturday was Ian McCaldon’s last game for us. He has been offered a great opportunity and a new life in Australia, and we wish him well. He did us a favour by postponing his departure for a couple of weeks, and I thought he was outstanding against Northwich at the weekend. He came for crosses, and his talking and kicking were good. I would be happy if I didn’t have to look for another goalkeeper if we can convince him to stay, but that’s going to be a hard decision because he’s made the decision to go to Australia and live out there. It’s that time of his life when he thinks he’s got to move on, but everyone at Chester hopes he’ll stay around, because he was a big plus for us at Northwich.”

A possible replacement being linked to the Deva is experienced 32-year-old shot-stopper Tony Pennock. Swansea-born Pennock, currently at League of Wales outfit Carmarthen Town, would require International clearance to play for City, but with no game until 7 February that will give the club some breathing space. He began his career in 1994 at Hereford United before moving to Yeovil Town where he made 95 appearances in the following five years before moving to Rushden & Diamonds. He made just 3+2 appearances for the Nene Park club before joining Farnborough Town (initially on loan) in 2002 where he made 55 appearances.

After the game manager Mark Wright hinted on radio Merseyside that the current squad of 17 players could be strengthened, possibly this week, and probably a goalkeeper after Ian McCaldon announced his intentions to emigrate to Australia in the next few weeks.

Fixtures for weeks 15-19 are now available for the following teams.

Download Word document: under 11 | under 12 | under 13 | under 14 | under 16

Picture: Tony Arnold

The Blues suffered their third league defeat of the season on Saturday, going down 2-1 at managerless Forest Green Rovers. Daryl Clare had given City a half-time lead with a goal at the end on an uneventful first-half but, as against Leigh and Gravesend recently, they conceded two goal in quick succession midway though the second period and were unable to get back on level terms. Andy Harris came in for Scott Guyett who missed the game though injury while Jamie Heard was preferred to Carl Regan. “I don’t think we performed from start to finish. Whether that’s down to them working hard or down to the pitch, or us playing bad, I don’t know. I think it was a little bit of everything. When you go 1-0 up, and then you get through one on one with the keeper, that becomes very important. That would have made it 2-0 to us, and then, in my opinion, the game is over. But we missed that one on one, we missed a few chances, including Daryl’s one on one in the first half which he lobbed wide of the post. It was a scrappy game, but you cannot get beat with just a big ball”. said a disappointed manager Mark Wright. Former Chester player Ryan Sugden did City a favour with a last minute equaliser for Morecambe as they pegged back Hereford United for a 2-2 draw. The Bulls now lie three points behind City with a game in hand.

Rovers currently lie in 18th place with a home record that has seen three wins, five draws and five defeats this season. They are expected to field the ex-Cheltenham midfielder Hugh McAuley who signed this week. McAuley had been tracked by Mark Wright in the summer and has played just one game so far this season for Northwich Victoria back in November.

While promotion to the Football League remains the top priority for the club, chairman Steve Vaughan has hinted this week to the importance of a good run in Non-League’s top knockout cup. Prize money for this year’s competition has been increased with the winners of tomorrow’s clash picking up £4,000 (it was £1,000 last season) and the chairman said: “A good cup run is vital to this club. A successful campaign that culminates in winning the FA Trophy could yield revenues in the region of £200,000. That kind of revenue is critical to Chester City Football Club.”

What side is picked tomorrow remains to be seen though Kevin McIntyre is ruled out as he serves the last game of his suspension. Visitors Halifax have selection problems with defenders James Dudgeon and Adam Yates both suspended after being red-carded against Scarborough recently, while Karl Colley is cup-tied.

The Blues’ best performance in the FA Trophy came in 2000/01, our first Conference season, when the club made it to the semi-finals (beating Mark Wright’s Southport on the way!) before disappointingly losing 4-0 on aggregate to the eventual winners Canvey Island. The winners of this season’s competition will pick up £50,000 prize money from the Villa Park final.

This is a huge deficit and reducing this burden is essential for the long-term stability and future of this club. We may well be top of the league but there is still a great deal to do. Our financial losses are too high, and we have to act collectively now. The easy option would be to cut expenditure and settle for mid-table mediocrity, but to give our manager the best chance of challenging for promotion, money is the key.

Manager Mark Wright named an unchanged team from the one that beat Leigh RMI 5-0 on Boxing Day and the Blues turned in another convincing victory, although there was a spell in the second half, when things looked a little shaky as The Railwaymen pulled back two goals in a short space of time after finding themselves three down.

Daryl Clare opened the scoring twelve minutes before the break lashing home a loose ball in the six yard box, minutes earlier the striker was guilty of a penalty miss after Martyn Lancaster was adjudged to have handled a cross in the box. City doubled their lead just before the break as Darryn Stamp turned a near post cross just beating Steve Redmond to the ball.

Stamp himself added a third just after the break and City missed some guilt-edge chances to extend their lead, most notably Alex Smith who hit the bar from close range before sloppy defending allowed the home side to pull two quick goals back midway through the second half. Ian Martin, making his home debut for Leigh made a string of fine saves before Darryl Clare headed home a fourth and completed a hat-trick in the last minute before a stunning Smith free-kick completed the scoring in injury time. Around 1,500 City fans made the short trip to Hilton Park as Leigh recorded their record Nationwide Conference attendance of 2,002.

Manager Mark Wright was delighted with the players attitude at Christmas but has warned them not to be complacent following the 5-0 defeat of Leigh RMI on Boxing Day. “I am pleased with the way the players responded – the festive period is important to clubs and the players have shown true professionalism in they way they have responded and in the sort of performance they put in. I haven’t enough praise for the players, the level of performance was outstanding.”