Chester FC boss Jon McCarthy has challenged online critics of him and his team to be fair in their analysis.

The Blues manager was responding to criticism from some posters online, notably Devachat, the club’s unofficial messageboard, after his side’s poor run of form so far in 2017.

Chester head to Torquay United this weekend knowing a point will see them reach the 50-point target set by McCarthy at the start of the season with six games to spare. And the Blues manager believes that his side should receive some recognition for what they have achieved on meagre resources.

He said: “I don’t read the forums but the lads downstairs do. I’ve never been on Devachat but my whole board and this whole club relies on it. It brings the negativity from there to here.

“I know there are loads positive fans and I would be able to tell whether they weren’t behind me or behind the players. Drown that negative stuff out on Devachat, get on and change the culture.

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“The fans have been great with the drums and things like that, and singing my name from the first whistle, it makes a difference. There is recognition for those people who get behind us and support us. Recognise who we are and really start to see that everybody is pulling to try and defy the odds and try to develop that. Focus on that. Try to drown the whingers out, I hate that negative stuff.”

McCarthy accepts that with poor form, criticism is likely to follow, but the Blues boss says that people should also offer up positives alonsgide the negatives and laid down a challenge to online posters.

He said: “Here’s my challenge. If anybody goes on Devachat and makes loads of negatives and no positives, and there is definitely loads of positives about us, then everybody else hammer them. Similarly, if people get carried away and go the other way and put loads of positives and no negatives, challenge them on that.

“Anybody who posts on there, you have to use critical analysis, if you want you can send it in and I’ll mark it, spelling mistakes and everything. If you put something negative, put something positive. That’s how you find out the real whingers, they can’t do it. There’s loads of positive stuff at our club.”

The Blues travel to Devon to take on Torquay at the weekend and The Chronicle will have live updates on the match blog from 2pm from Plainmoor.