Bernard Morley admits that injuries could once again play a major factor as he and fellow Chester FC boss Anthony Johnson prepare their side for the visit of Bradford (Park Avenue).
The Blues take on BPA on Saturday (3pm) in what club officials are confident will be there first game at the Swansway Chester Stadium for over a month after work to repair the damage caused by water ingress at the stadium was due to be completed last night ahead of a testing and inspection today.
But wherever the game is played Morley and Johnson won't have a full strength side to choose from for the visit of a Bradford side who sit third in the National League North.
For the 1-1 draw at Guiseley , Steve Howson, Jon Moran and Dan Mooney all earned recalls to the side as injuries and suspensions took their toll, with the experienced Simon Grand forced to play in the unfamiliar role of left back where he put in a fine display.
Captain Scott Burton was forced off with a recurrence of a calf injury on Saturday while Matty Waters and John Pritchard are also facing the prospect of missing out after being absent for the clash at Nethermoor through injury.
But Morley was hopeful over Burton's involvement.
"I know what Scott is like and I know he will be doing everything to be involved," said Morley.
"He felt it against Guiseley so we brought him off as soon as we could to avoid it being worse. Scott says it has felt fine this week and he'll be training this week and we're hoping we can get him right for the weekend.
"Cain Noble came on and did well but we've got Gary Roberts out suspended for one more game so it certainly wouldn't be ideal to be without Scott at the weekend, but we should hopefully be ok.
"Danny Livesey will have to miss out on Saturday again because of the concussion he got at Telford, but Jon Moran and Steve Howson came in and made a claim for a shirt on Saturday while Simon Grand was excellent against one of the quickest players in the league (Kaine Felix)."
One player who could make an appearance on Saturday is striker Deane Smalley.
The former Oxford United and Oldham Athletic man has yet to appear in a competitive game for the Blues after signing on the eve of the season after the club were forced to wait a month for clearance from the Welsh FA owing to a brief spell Smalley had at Newport County in 2016.
His clearance finally came through on Thursday but he was unable to play at Guiseley owing to an injury picked up in training last week, but he has a chance of making the squad for the clash with BPA.
"Deane Smalley will be assessed this week and we'd like to have him involved with the squad on Saturday if we can," said Morley.
"He has had to wait for his chance and he gives us another option up front so he would be a big plus for us if we can get him right.
"It's not been the easiest first month and we look threadbare for this weekend, but the funny thing is that we could have a near full strength side for FC United on Tuesday and then hopefully we can start to push on."
Attacking midfielder George Green continues to make good progress with his lower back injury.
