PREVIEW | Chester v Eastleigh

    Chester welcome Eastleigh to the Swansway Chester Stadium today for the Blues’ first home league fixture of the month.

    Andy Hessenthaler’s side last won at the end of January, when the Spitfires overcame Hartlepool United in a seven-goal thriller on the south-coast.

    Currently sitting in 12th place, Eastleigh will surely count themselves as a member of the chasing pack to earn a play-off place come the end of April – after a solid run of form in January.

    The former Gillingham boss replaced Richard Hill as manager at the Silverlake Stadium back in December, with Hill moving into the boardroom as the club’s new Director of Football.

    Eastleigh are unbeaten in their previous four away league fixtures, and held promotion chasing AFC Fylde to a 2-2 draw on their last National League away fixture.

    Danger man Ryan Broom netted twice for the visitors, but Henry Jones came off the bench to bag the equaliser for the Coasters.

    For Chester, new signing Dominic Vose is expected to feature following his arrival yesterday. James Jones returns from suspension and Myles Anderson is back in full training; so could be involved.

    History Books

    Club Historian Chas Sumner picks out some stats ahead of the game…

    • This is the fourth meeting between Chester and Eastleigh at the Swansway Chester Stadium
    • All three previous meetings have been settled by a single goal with Chester winning one and Eastleigh two
    • In September 2015 Chester won 1-0 with Ben Heneghan scoring his last goal for Chester on his 22nd birthday.
    • Earlier in the campaign Chester came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at the Silverlake Stadium with goals from Ryan Astles and James Akintunde
    • Today’s game is the 400th competitive game for Chester since reforming

    One To Watch

    Ryan Broom – Midfielder

    After joining the Southampton-based outfit from Bristol Rovers midway through January, Broom has continued to impress Spitfires supporters and is in a rich vein of form.

    The 21-year-old scored on his debut for Eastleigh against Maidstone United, and bagged a brace over AFC Fylde earlier this month.

    Successful loan spells with Taunton Town and Bath City previously this season earned the midfielder with a move to non-league’s top tier.

    Match Details

    Kick off at the Swansway Chester Stadium today is 3pm. Ticket prices can be found here

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