Matty Brown reckons his fledging partnership with Michael Kay can be a long-term arrangement in the middle of the Chester FC back four.
Steve Burr has still to settle on his best pairing and teamed them together for only the third time in 11 months at Southport last weekend.
It was a game lacking quality yet the performance of Brown and Kay and a clean sheet was a positive for the manager, who seems certain to give them another chance to impress at home to Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday (3pm).
Club captain Brown and Kay first played alongside each other in April against Hyde but the former was sent-off after an hour, leaving his team-mates to hang on for a 3-2 win.
Brown's suspension and an injury that kept Kay out of the final three games of last season meant the pairing was not used again until August 25 at Kidderminster.
It did not start well as the Harriers scored twice inside nine minutes but the Blues fought back to draw 2-2.
Kieran Charnock has been the most consistent presence in central defence, establishing a good partnership with Kay before his red card at Stockport County opened the door to Brown, who has been outstanding since.
Burr decided to change his partnership again after seeing his team concede some poor goals and said the onus was on those with the shirts to keep them, especially with Charnock and Ben Heneghan waiting in the wings.
At the ages of 24 and 25, Brown and Kay are still young in centre half terms and their respective strengths, and weaknesses, seem well-suited.
Kidderminster, who have signed ex-Wrexham forward Danny Wright, will provide a stiffer test but one that holds little fear for Brown.
"Michael's a clever footballer, he's a good defender and it doesn't take long to get a partnership so I'm hoping we can build on that if the gaffer wants to stick with that partnership," said the Liverpool-born defender.
"I felt it went alright on Saturday, we kept a clean sheet so that was the most important thing and hopefully we can build on that again.
"We've got to get back to winning ways at home. It was disappointing over Christmas the period that we had so the main objective is getting a win.
"If we can get another clean sheet that's a bonus but the main objective is to get a win and get the three points on the board."
