Jon McCarthy says talk is cheap and the only way his Chester FC team can respond to recent criticism is to start picking up points.

Chester were in touch with the National League play-off places a month ago but a four-game losing streak has seen them fall way off the pace and start to look beneath them as opposed to above.

A wretched first half display against Maidstone United on Saturday , where Chester were 4-0 at the break before rallying back to make it 4-2 at full time, was, arguably, the lowest point of what has been a largely impressive season for McCarthy and his side so far.

And the Blues boss understands the frustrations of fans and has been putting in the hard yards with his team this week in a bid to turn their fortunes around at struggling Southport on Saturday.

“I know how it goes and I know what people will be thinking with the run that we are on, it’s one of those occasions where talk is cheap and you have show what you can do on the pitch,” said the Chester boss.

“When we have been doing well I never got too carried away and it is the same now. I know how football is and how a few results can change things.

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“This week has been about us as a group focusing on what we need to do and where we need to improve.

“They say the definition of stupidity is to keep repeating the same mistake over and over again so we have been putting different things in place to ensure that we get out of this run we are in as quickly as possible.

“We watched the Maidstone game on Monday and it wasn’t pretty. We went over everything that went wrong and what we should have done better. We’ve addressed it and we move on.”

Chester travel to a Southport side on Saturday that are still looking for a first win under new manager Andy Preece after he took over from ex-Blues boss Steve Burr earlier this month.

“It will be a test and I’m sure they’ll be looking at us thinking we are a great chance to pick up some points,” said McCarthy.

We lost there in the FA Cup earlier in the season , and that hurt, so there is no better place to try and get back to winning ways.”