He was the surprise signing before the derby at Wrexham.

But, two weeks on from the Racecourse defeat, Chester FC fans have yet to see Karl Cunningham in action.

The attacking midfielder has been working hard behind the scenes to get up to match speed.

And there are still hopes he could play some part in tomorrow's trip to Sutton United (3pm).

But those hopes suffered an unfortunate setback on Thursday when Cunningham, who played for four clubs in Sweden after being released by Lincoln City in 2014, was unable to turn up for training.

Chester manager Marcus Bignot, when questioned whether the 24-year-old will feature against title-challenging Sutton, said: "Hopefully...

"But he's had his car stolen today so he hasn't been in training.

"But if he can get into training tomorrow (Friday) then he's got a chance."

Bignot's squad will be stretched even if Cunningham is available.

Nine-goal top-scorer Ross Hannah has been allowed to join Southport on loan as the cash-strapped Blues continue to cut costs.

Hannah is one of a number of senior players to leave the club after its financial problems first came to light.

But that has allowed Bignot to bring through more players from Chester's thriving academy.

The latest off the production line are defender Matty Thomson and midfielder Cain Noble.

The duo have signed first-team forms with the Blues until the end of the season and could come into contention to face a Sutton side who will be big favourites tomorrow.

The relegation-threatened Blues did, however, hold another high-flying side, Aldershot Town, to a 0-0 draw at the Swansway Chester Stadium last Saturday.

And Bignot believes if Chester can show the same resilience, and combine that with more composure on the ball, they can become the first away side to win on the Gander Green Lane 3G pitch since December.

"It was a hard-fought and well-earned point last Saturday," said Bignot.

"It was a backs-to-the-wall and an off-the-ball performance and a clean sheet should give us huge confidence moving forward.

"But we know we can't keep playing just like we did on Saturday. We have to be better in other areas.

"We have some good players in our team and we have to get those players on the ball, certainly in that midfield area.

"It's all about getting that balance right and hopefully we get that on Saturday - and if we do that hard-earned point against Aldershot would turn into a brilliant point and it'd be four points from two games.

"That's certainly what we're going down to London to achieve."