CHESTER City manager Steve Mungall's managerial career has been given a boost by his former Tranmere Rovers boss John King.

Rovers' most successful manager was at the Deva Stadium on Saturday and met up with Mungall, who was the Prenton Park club's second longest serving player when he left two years ago.

'Steve is a canny lad,' he said.

'He knows which drums to beat. He was with Tranmere through the hardest and best of times and he learned an awful lot.

'I read about something he had done the other day and I rang to congratulate him. He has a way about him and knows when to get out the whip and when to use the carrot.'

Meanwhile, City's failure to get into the first round of the FA Cup has left them without a game tomorrow. Efforts were made to persuade Liverpool, Everton and Manchester City to send their reserves to the Deva Stadium failed and Mungall has had to settle for a training session.

Following three successive defeats he hoped to iron out some problems in a friendly fixture. 'We will have to play a game amongst ourselves,' he said.

'It is disappointing, because after playing so well on Tuesday, we could have done with playing again quickly.'

Following the club's exit from the Cheshire Senior Cup and a home defeat by Forest Green in the Conference on Saturday, Mungall was encouraged by the performance in losing at Rushden and Diamonds in a penalty shoot-out in the Conference Shield.

New loan signing from Accrington Gary Williams scored on his debut and although the absence of a competitive match tomorrow is unhelpful, Mungall revealed he could probably keep the striker for a further month if necessary.

Chester are back in action tomorrow week at Dover, by which time they may have re-signed their former midfielder Paul Carden from Doncaster Rovers a small fee. City have made an offer for Carden, who is keen to return to the club now it is under new management.

* Chester owner Stephen Vaughan has agreed to sell 7% of his shares to the Chester City Supporters' Trust. Last week he sold 21% to three members of the Chester Supporters' Group who are now on the board.

'It has always been my aim to have local supporter involvement,' said Vaughan. 'The input I have had from the Trust through Graham Ross and his fellow supporters has been extremely positive.'

Application forms available at www.supportchester.co.uk