CHESTER CITY are confident that the Football Association will turn down Bury’s attempts to be reinstated in this season’s FA Cup, when their appeal is heard in London today.

The Shakers won a second round replay against Chester earlier this month, but were rejected from the competition when they were found to have played an ineligible player for 80minutes of the match.

A meeting of the FA’s competition committee last week made the decision to kick the Gigg Lane outfit out of the tournament, but they gave them leave to appeal, and that hearing will be held today.

Bury have sought the assistance of the former FA Compliance Unit official Graham Bean in a bid to overturn last week’s ruling.

Last night Chester director Bob Gray was confident that the FA wouldn’t overturn last week’s ruling, and it will still be City who face Ipswich Town in the third round next month.

He said: “As I’ve said many times before, we have sympathy for the predicament that Bury find themselves in. But, whichever way you look at it, they have broken the rules and they must accept the implications.

“If it had been Chester who had broken the rules, we certainly wouldn’t be bleating, we would accept our punishment and get on with our lives, that’s also what the vast majority of mature adults would do.

“This is the second time this year Bury have played an ineligible player. If this was Chester the people concerned with the mistakes would be dealt with internally, we would take this extremely seriously.”

It is understood that if in the unlikely event of Bury being re-admitted Chester would consider taking legal action against the decision.