Chester FC chief executive Mark Maguire insists that the club’s move to full-time training isn’t a knee-jerk reaction to the miserable FA Cup defeat at Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday .

The Blues were dumped out of the Cup at the fourth qualifying round stage by National League North side Harriers - a full time outfit - and Chester manager Marcus Bignot told the press after the game that his side would be moving to four days a week training in the wake of the debacle.

Chester have been part-time since their reformation in 2010 and have this season been training three mornings a week, but Bignot now wants them in an extra day in order to make sure they are competitive and to avoid more horror shows like the one that was dished up at Aggborough on Saturday.

It is something that Maguire says the club had been working towards.

“We have been trying to be as professional as we can be for some time and trying to work towards a league structure, and this is the next step that we need to take,” said Maguire.

“We have been coming up against full-time teams week in, week out for some time now and on Saturday we faced a team from the league below us who is full-time.

“We have to implement a professional first-team structure if we are to compete and allow Marcus and the players the best chance to succeed in this league.

“Saturday was an awful display and the staff and players all accept that and the fans had every right to vent their anger at the final whistle.

“But the challenge for us as a club now is to use this as motivation and try and galvanise us to move forward, starting with the game against Boreham Wood this weekend.”

Kidderminster go 1-0 up against Chester

The move to four days a week training is likely to cause problems for some players.

While much of the squad are now on 52-week contracts there are a number of players who also have coaching jobs away from the football club who could find the extra day difficult to commit to.

“Look, we won’t be riding roughshod over players who have existing commitments, whether that be family or otherwise, but this is the direction we are now heading, said Maguire.

“Most of the squad are on 52-week contracts now and they are on standard National League football contracts. They are not typical employment contracts that have fixed days and have them contracted to a certain number of days training each week. The contracts in place are designed to meet the needs of the football club when they arise, such as changes in dates for games etc. Adding an extra days training won’t affect this, although it won’t be ideal for all of them.

“But this is the next step that we have to take as a football club.”

The FA Cup defeat against Kidderminster means that Chester miss out on some much-needed revenue, too.

Success in the fourth qualifying round was worth £12,500 to the victor, with the financial gains significantly increasing round by round.

And Maguire acknowledges that defeat in the Cup now makes his job that bit harder.

“We were all bitterly disappointed with Saturday, none more so than me,” said Maguire.

“The financial rewards had we gone through would have been a boost to the football club and helped us support Marcus that bit more, but the challenge is now on me to make sure I am able to make up for that and bring in extra revenues and help us work smarter as a football club.”