'˜Gate boosted by return of key personnel at Chester

Skipper Jake Brady, fly-half Sam Fox and flanker Jonny Coser all missed the Rudding Lane club’s recent home defeat to Sedgley Park through injury, but will come back into contention at Hare Lane.

And although scrum-half Danny Matthews (detached retina) and centre Alex Nesbitt (broken leg) will not play again this season, director of rugby Dave Doherty feels that the return to fitness of some of his most consistent performers will make a huge differece.

“Danny Matthews and Alex Nesbitt are out for the rest of the season, which is a real shame, but it’s a big positive to have Jake, Sam and Jonny back in training,” Doherty said.

“We’ve fielded a fairly settled side in recent months, so to be missing so many regular starters made it really tough when we played Sedgley Park in our last game.

“The boys have all trained well this week. We’ve put them through some very physical sessions and they’re all looking good.”

The Cockerels have lost their last three matches, and Doherty is expecting another difficult test at the weekend, but says his side make the trip over to Cheshire with no fear.

“Chester are fifth in the division and it’s a tough game on paper. They’re strong at home and very, very good at keeping the ball, particularly with their dominant forward pack,” he added.

“We have analysed them in detail, however, and have identified areas where we think we can hurt them.

“The lads are champing at the bit and we can’t wait for the game.”