Ryan Higgins says Chester FC boss Steve Burr will be well within his rights to tell the players to find new clubs if the ‘unacceptable’ performances don’t stop.

Burr was livid with his team’s first-half showing at Alfreton Town on Saturday, which followed a lacklustre defeat at home to relegation-threatened Dartford.

Higgins said the half-time dressing down dished out at the weekend had been fully justified and the 20-year-old admits he could understand if the performance influenced the manager’s thinking over new contracts.

“The first-half performance was just nowhere near where we should be and the gaffer had the full right to give us the hell that we got at half-time because the first-half was just terrible and it’s not acceptable when you’re playing at a club like this,” Higgins said.

“Everyone went in at half-time completely expecting to get one because you can’t play for a club like Chester, go out and perform like that and think it’s acceptable because it’s not.

“We like to play football but Saturday wasn’t the type of game or pitch to do that. We were still trying to play through the middle of the pitch and Alfreton were absolutely bombarding us. It took us to the 60th minute to realise that we need to start hitting balls longer and turning them.

“The gaffer said at half-time that some of us are trying to earn a living here and we’re playing to provide for families, and if you perform like that then the gaffer has got every right to say ‘listen it’s not going to work out here’ because you can’t play that poorly and just expect that the gaffer to give you a contract for next season because it doesn’t work like that.”

Higgins, a mid-season capture from Vanarama Conference rivals AFC Telford United, has proven an excellent addition to the squad, starting the past 11 games since debuting at Southport on January 17.

He came through the Everton academy and then spent two years at Birmingham City before joining the Bucks in September.

Chester are in a comfortable position in the middle of the table but Liverpool-born Higgins insists there’s still plenty left to play for, starting with Saturday’s home game with Woking (3pm).

He said: “The gaffer was saying at Alfreton some of the lads think the season’s over and it’s by far not. We’ve still got six hard games left to play and we want to finish as high up the table as we can. We can’t have a dip in form like the club did over Christmas where we lost a few games and we can’t drop back again after the run we went on.”