Luke George believes he is in the best shape of his Chester FC career.

The 24-year-old Blues skipper has been in fine form in recent weeks and was on the score sheet during the 3-2 defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday, producing a man-of-the-match performance.

It has been an up and down spell for the Liverpudlian midfielder at the Lookers Vauxhall Stadium since arriving in the summer of 2015 from Southport, with injuries, suspensions and having to act as cover in unfamiliar positions all factors that have denied him the chance to shine in his preferred position in the centre of the park.

But George is confident that he has turned a corner and can build on his recent form.

"The last few games is the best I have felt physically in a long time and that helps you mentally, and confidence is a big thing in my mind," said George.

"I have had a lot of setbacks injury wise and suspensions and I haven't had a run of games where I want to be playing (central midfield) and I've had to fill in at right back.

"Mentally I'm that little bit more confident and feeling more sharp. The last month or so has been more like myself but I want to push and be better every week and there is a lot more to come. I feel the best I have done since I first came here.

George is expected to retain his place in midfield this weekend for Saturday's visit of Gateshead (12.15pm) in a game that will televised live on BT Sport.

Dave Powell on the star performers against Dagenham

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The Blues will be looking to bounce back to winning ways having been unfortunate to taste defeat in their previous two games, with performances in clashes with the Daggers and Dover Athletic warranting far more than a zero points haul.

The Blues travelled to Gateshead on the opening day of the current Vanarama National League campaign and were beaten 3-0, but George insists that the team has grown immeasurably since then.

"Performance wise we have been excellent over the last few games. Probably the last defeat we deserved was around Christmas time against Solihull (3-0), but that's football and little things don't go your way sometimes," said the Chester skipper.

"There hasn't been one game this season thinking 'can we win here?', every game I have gone in thinking 'we can beat these'.

"But that's down to the togetherness we have created and the squad we have got. We fear no-one.

"Going back to that day and to now we are a much stronger team. We owe Gateshead one. They might be thinking they are going to come here and have and easy game but that's far from what it's going to be."

And with a first goal of the season under his belt, George is aiming to try and chip in with a few more before the end of the campaign.

He added: "Obviously that is my first goal of the season and I don't get many. But once I get one I start to get a few, so we will see Saturday."