Jon McCarthy remains positive he will have a full squad to choose from when Chester FC open the National League campaign at Gateshead on Saturday (3pm).

McCarthy rested a number of players for Tuesday evening's 2-1 loss to Burnley under-21s at the Lookers Vauxhall Stadium with Blaine Hudson and Kane Richards among those to sit out while Ross Killock, who has missed much of pre-season, was absent again before returning to training later this week.

Craig Mahon hobbled off late on against Burnley after a clash with a Clarets player but should be fit in time to face the Heed.

And the Blues boss is confident that he will be able to pick from a complete and healthy squad for the visit to the International Stadium this weekend but insists he has enough strength in depth to cope with any issues.

"I think everyone is going to be alright," said the Chester boss.

"It wasn't a twist (for Mahon) just some studs as the lad landed on him when he came down. Actually I think that is something that gets shaking off.

"We feel really confident that we will have everybody available for training on Thursday, which gives us everyone we want to pick from on Saturday.

James Akintunde puts Chester in front against Burnley
James Akintunde puts Chester in front against Burnley

"There has been a lot of improvement over the last couple of days so we are really hopeful about Ross Killock. Things are looking really positive.

"I'm always touching wood but I have got cover in positions if things do happen and I'm confident I can put together a squad that can go to Gateshead and get something."

The Blues boss was pleased with the effort and intensity of his side in the loss to the young Clarets and delighted to see five academy players finish the game in the first team.

He said: "We were pleased with everybody's efforts. It wasthe right intensity, the right level of game for us, it was positive and we got all the minutes that we wanted out of players.

"We ended up with five academy graduates on the pitch and two of them (Tom Crawford and James Jones) making their debut. The whole back four was from the academy. I was really pleased.

"There'll be a lot of detail on Thursday we'll look at and I'm just looking forward to Gateshead."