Halfway through the 2015-16 campaign, Chester FC manager Steve Burr concedes he hoped to have more than 30 points on the board – but he thinks his team remain in a good position.

Performances over the 23 matches have been far too inconsistent for the manager’s liking, prompting him to bring in three new faces on loan this week.

Burnley defender Alex Whitmore and Port Vale midfielder Ryan Lloyd arrived on Tuesday and a deal for FC Halifax Town centre-forward Danny Hattersley was completed yesterday , well before today’s 5pm loan deadline.

Read: Alex Whitmore wants loan spell to deliver improvement for him and Blues

Chester had targeted a minimum of four points from back-to-back home games this week but picked up only one, losing to Woking on Saturday before drawing with Dover Athletic.

Burr was extremely disappointed after the weekend’s defeat but took encouragement from how his team reacted on Tuesday night and does believe progress, albeit limited, has been made.

Ex-Southport striker Danny Hattersley has moved to Chester on loan until January 19
Ex-Southport striker Danny Hattersley has moved to Chester on loan until January 19

He said: “I had targeted more than 30 points but we got 30 points at the end of December last year and this season we’ve a month still to go and we’ve got there.

“We’ve managed to bring a couple of lads in and we’ll get Danny Hattersley completed for Saturday and I want us to use this as a platform.

“I felt maybe one or two players had maybe taken us as far as they could get us and I don’t want that scenario to be an obstacle for us to get in that top half, but maybe that’s where we are at the minute with what we do and what we try to do.

Port Vale midfielder Ryan Lloyd has joined Chester on loan
Port Vale midfielder Ryan Lloyd has joined Chester on loan

“I always want better and that’s maybe why I didn’t come and speak to the press on Saturday because I think I would have been saying the same stuff about being frustrated and all the usual bull that you get.

“I want to better and we can do better, I know that with these players, but we’re ahead of where we were last season.

Read: Steve Burr happy to take a point after Dover Athletic draw

“You’re always looking over your shoulder but this time last year we were maybe a couple of points from dropping into the bottom four and that’s not been the case this season so we want to keep pushing up.”

Chester travel to Gateshead, who are one place above them in the National League, on Saturday (3pm) with Ian Sharps available again after completing a one-game ban but James Roberts has returned to parent club Oxford United for now.