Marcus Bignot says it was important that his Chester FC players heard just how angry the travelling Blues fans were with the abysmal 2-0 loss at Kidderminster Harriers in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round.

For the third season running the Blues were denied any financial rewards as they were dumped out of the competition before the first round proper following a woeful performance at Aggborough that incurred that wrath of the 522 away fans.

After the final whistle many Blues fans stayed behind to make their feelings known to the players after an utterly abject performance, with chants of 'you're not fit to wear the shirt' and 'what a waste of money' emanating from the away stand.

And Blues boss Bignot made his players stay on the pitch to hear the criticism, believing it important that they did so.

He said: "Some people said I should have brought the players off, but why hide? They have got to face up to it.

"We have got great supporters and it was never going to be a case of stewards being worried that this could escalate, no, they were voicing their opinion. They have every right, they have paid their hard-earned money and have every right to voice their opinion, and I believe my players should hear that opinion.

Chester players on the pitch after the final whistle

"Too many players - and I'm talking players in football - get in the car, go home and don't care. So we go back to character and let's hope they do care and that we see a response on Saturday. This can't become a common theme, hopefully it's just a blip, and we will do everything in our power to make sure that it's just a blip."

Goals from Emmanual Sonupe and Joe Ironside put Harriers deservedly into the hat for Monday's draw, and Bignot stated afterwards that the squad would be moving towards full-time training, stating that they could not compete if things stay as they are.

He added: “We need to go full-time and I’ve told the boys it’s going to be a full-time programme starting from Monday. It has to be. You can’t expect to compete at National (League) level, never mind in the North, where there’s six or seven professional teams.

“We have to be full-time, and once we get full-time that takes any excuses away from the players. If we get performances like that after we’ve gone full-time then they’ll see a different side to me.

“But at the moment I’m not going to rip shreds off them because I need them. I’m going to need every single player because this is the group we’ve got."