Midfielder Liam Davies is backing himself to earn a longer deal at Chester FC .
The 20-year-old signed a sixth-month deal during the summer to remain at the Lookers Vauxhall Stadium having sufficiently impressed Blues boss Jon McCarthy during the final months of last season.
Former Tranmere Rovers man Davies, brother of Everton star Tom, spent months on trial at Chester last season and signed a short term deal for the final weeks, playing four games and scoring once.
The left-sided player is viewed as having a lot of untapped potential and a sixth-month deal could turn into something longer should he make his mark for the Blues in the National League next season. But he knows it won’t come easy.
Said Davies: “When I came in at the end of the season there was a short amount of time to prove what I could do. To come back fresh and be able to kick on from the start of pre-season with the lads and the gaffer, I can show what I can do from the get go.
“I know I am a more forward thinking player and I feel I can be a lot more effective in the final third of the pitch. But I can do a job where I’m needed, although I see myself as an attacking player. I have got the time to show people what I can do. It is down to me now to prove myself.
“It is a short-term contract but there are so many games between now and Christmas and everybody is going to get a chance to prove themselves.
“There are pre-season games, Walsall and Port Vale, if you can show what you can do in those games then there is no reason why you can’t do it in the league.
“I have spoken to the backroom staff and that is something I am looking to and something they would look at. If I prove myself in the games then there is nothing to say that the deal wouldn’t be extended, but that’s down to me to go out on to the pitch and prove why I deserve to get that extension on the deal.”
Davies and the rest of the Blues squad reported back for pre-season training on Monday and were put through their paces by the Chester coaching staff as they look to gain the edge on their rivals by being back at it earlier than usual.
But the early return is no problem for Davies, a player who is relishing the chance to put a series of injury-plagued summers behind him.
“In the last two or three seasons, whether it has been through injuries or not being right, I haven’t settled into a pre-season how I would have liked to,” he said:
“A couple of seasons I was out altogether and didn’t take part in pre-season. To be able to come in and be able to get myself going from day one and train everyday is something I’m really looking forward to.”
