Marcus Bignot said he was 'gutted' for his Chester FC players after they 'cruelly' had a point snatched from them at the death at Maidstone United.

Chester looked to be on course for a share of the spoils at the Gallagher Stadium after a solid performance in Kent, but a 94th-minute strike from Alex Finney broke Blues hearts and earned the hosts a 1-0 win, sending them on the long journey home without a point to show for their efforts.

And with results elsewhere going against them, Chester are now back in the National League relegation zone.

But they should take some crumbs of comfort from a display that was deserving of some reward on a ground where they found themselves 4-0 down at the break last season.

"I'm gutted for the players because I didn't believe they deserved to lose the game," said Bignot.

"People remind me of last year when we were here and the game was over in 20 minutes. For 95/96 minutes we were in the game and worthy, I believe, of a point today."

"I've said to them in the dressing room that if they apply themselves the way the applied themselves today over these next four games I believe we will get our luck. The harder you work the luckier you get.

"At some point there will be a win where we should have drawn, but we'll get this point back which I felt we deserved today and cruelly had taken away."

While not a dirty game, referee Adrian Quelch was card happy and dished out no less than nine yellows.

"I didn't see a bad tackle to be honest," said Bignot