AFTER a seven-match unbeaten pre-season campaign, Chester City were brought down to earth with a bump on Saturday when they conceded six goals without reply at Blackpool.
Despite the setback, City manager Keith Curle is upbeat with the new season's opening Coca-Cola League Two match at Peter-borough United just five days away.
"This result was a one-off, and it certainly doesn't destroy all the good work we have done in pre-season.
"There were a number of individual errors that we can work on this week - for example the first goal was a defensive error at a set-piece. It's better to get these mistakes out of our system in a friendly match like this, rather than committing them when the season has started in earnest."
Curle added: "Football is more and more a squad game these days, and we utilised 19 players on Saturday so that everbody got a part of the action.
"We created a number of chances in the first half, and on another day, they would have been converted, so there were quite a few positives to come out of the match."
Blackpool looked a more solid side defensively, and at the other end, they were clinical in front of goal when opportunities arose.
The Seasiders took the lead after 10 minutes when hesitancy between Drummond and Bolland allowed ex-City striker John Murphy an opportunity to convert Prendergast's cross with a firm header.
And poor defending was again Chester's downfall after 32 minutes, when Parker shook off a weak defensive challenge before hitting a low effort past Chris Mackenzie.
Chester's cause wasn't helped after 47 minutes when Abdul El Kholti was dismissed following a challenge on Parker. Depending on the referee's report, the Moroccan defender could now miss the opening three matches of the new league campaign.
Twenty minutes into the second period, Murphy regis-tered his second goal and his side's third, when he headed home from close range, following a build-up between Vernon and Prendergast.
Goals from Burns, Wiles and Blinkhorn in the final 10 minutes gave the scoreline an unrealistic look, and Chester will be thankful that the defeat happened last Saturday rather than next weekend.
Chester utilised the match to give a trial in the second half to the Australian goalkeeper Clint Davies, who was with Bristol City last season, and had a tough baptism. Curle is expected to add a keeper with league experience to his squad later this week.
City are in action again tomorrow night when they play the final friendly of their pre-season build up at League of Wales outfit Airbus UK.
