AN army of travelling fans will follow Chester FC across the River Mersey this Saturday – and Neil Young is desperate to reward them with some early seasonal cheer.

The Blues manager knows that victory over in-form Marine would be the perfect festive fillip for his players and the supporters, who have packed out grounds in the Evo-Stik League all year.

Chester fans will fill two sides of the Arriva Stadium this Saturday and Young wants to reward their loyalty.

“From what I’m hearing, we’ll be taking quite a few fans there,” said the Blues boss. “It’s a tight ground and our fans will get right behind the team. They can play their part and we want to win for them.”

With Chester sharing top spot in the Northern Premier League table and also on the march in the FA Trophy, December has so far been a satisfying month for Young.

But the Blues manager knows that his Marine counterpart Kevin Lynch – the former Vauxhall Motors midfielder – will have his players fired up for Saturday’s derby.

The Merseysiders have won their least four league games and are one of seven teams capable of claiming the Northern Premier League title, according to Young.

“Looking at the table, it’s down to seven teams now,” said the manager. “Hednesford and Northwich look like the main threats but you’ve got teams like Chorley in there as well as FC, who always come in with a late run.”

Chester had been in a three-way tie at the top of the division with Hednesford United and Northwich Victoria, but the latter dropped from 48 points to 45 on Monday after being hit with a three-point deduction for fielding an ineligible player.

The player in question – midfielder Tom Field – had a short spell at Chester last season.

Young refused to draw any satisfaction from seeing one of Chester’s major title rivals punished.

“I don’t know what’s gone on there and it’s not really for me to comment,” he said. “If we win the league this season, we’ll have won it due to our own performances.”

Chester skipper George Horan will miss the Marine match through suspension but keeper John Danby is expected to recover from a knee injury sustained in Saturday’s 5-1 win at North Ferriby in the FA Trophy.

Representatives from Chester FC, Chorley and Lancashire Constabulary attended a meeting on Tuesday to discuss arrangements for the Blues’ league match at Victory Park.

Chester’s last visit to Chorley – in February this year – was marred by crowd trouble inside and outside of the stadium. The authorities are determined to prevent a repeat of the incidents.

Nothing discussed at this week’s meeting has been made public yet, but an announcement will be made closer to the time of the match, which is due to take place on Saturday, February 4.