Jon McCarthy believes he has enough firepower in his Chester FC forward line this season.

After releasing Kane Richards and losing last campaign’s leading scorer James Alabi to Tranmere Rovers, McCarthy has revamped his forward options and added more depth in the position than last year.

Only James Akintunde remains from last season’s strikeforce and McCarthy has added fans’ favourite Ross Hannah and forwards Nyal Bell and Harry White in the close season.

And with the big National League kick-off on August 5 looming on the horizon, the Chester boss is confident he has goals in his team, although he warned it may take some time for Hannah to get back up to speed after missing most of the pre-season games through a calf strain.

Said McCarthy: “There is enough goals in my squad. It was key to us and I think we have done it right.

“Harry White scores one in three goals, Akintunde does, Nyal Bell hasn’t played as many games so it’s difficult to know what his ratio is, and Ross Hannah is a little bit less, one in two. That has panned out over pre-season.”

Chester FC manager Jon McCarthy

Hannah was expected to be back in full training this week with a view to featuring in Saturday’s home encounter with League Two side Port Vale at the Swansway Chester Stadium.

The 31-year-old, Chester’s leading scorer with 26 goals in the 2015/16 National League season, arrived from Barrow on a two-year deal earlier in the summer but has been sidelined since suffering a calf strain in the second half of the 5-1 win at Runcorn Town just over a fortnight ago.

That, coupled with Hannah’s limited game time at Holker Street last season, has lead to McCarthy to request a little patience while the striker finds his groove again.

“He did some work here ( on Saturday against Walsall ), we are not hiding him away and he was out doing his work on the pitch beforehand,” said McCarthy.

“Ross doesn’t need to learn the game like a Nyal Bell does, he just needs to be fit and sharp.

“The last time he came he had been at Grimsby and not played many minutes and it took him a while to get going. He didn’t score 22 goals in the first 10 games, he struggled to get that and needed those minutes and then the goals came.

“It’s a similar situation. He’s been at Barrow, his goal ratio is always good.”