MARK Wright has demanded a 'strong, gritty and nasty' performance from his Chester City troops at Blundell Park tomorrow.

Back in charge of the club he led to Nationwide Conference glory in 2004, Wright has inherited a squad based around players brought in by previous managers Keith Curle and Ian Rush.

The new man in charge reckons it will take him about 10 days to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the staff at his disposal - and he warned that those who do not show sufficient fight or desire will be moved on.

Having worked with the team since Tuesday on the training field, Wright expects to gain an even greater insight into their qualities at Grimsby Town.

The Blues manager is a friend of Mariners counterpart Russell Slade, but he says that friendship will be put on ice for 90 minutes tomorrow as he called for Chester to battle their way out of trouble.

Wright said: 'We're not going down there to lie down. Only winning one game in 14 is a poor record.

'We'll find out over the next 10 days who wants to be here at Chester, who wants to be fighting for results, who wants to be putting their neck on the line and dying for the cause.

'Russell Slade has done exceptionally well and he's a good friend of mine, but friends don't come into it. I want a real strong, gritty, nasty performance.

'That's the least I expect and that's what the crowd expects.'

On the injury front, City centre-backs Dave Artell (ankle) and Luke Dimech (foot) are expected to shake off slight knocks while midfielder Ben Davies - a title winner with Wright - serves a one-match suspension for picking up five bookings.

The postponement of Grimsby's game against Rochdale last Saturday means they will have three of their best players banned tomorrow - Gary Croft, Michael Reddy and JP Kalala.

While former Blues boss Curle favoured a 4-4-2 formation, Wright is likely to stick with the 3-5-2 system that has served him so well throughout his career.

Wright, meanwhile, yesterday confirmed he intends to speak to chairman Stephen Vaughan about the possibility of bringing in an assistant manager.

Former Liverpool keeper Paul Harrison, who has been released by Wolves, is on trial with the Blues.

He saved a penalty in Wednesday night's 2-2 home draw with Tranmere.

Chester's youth team go to Wrexham's Colliers' Park, Gresford, tomorrow for a derby with the Dragons. Kick-off is 11am.

The prolific Chris Holroyd was on target again in the youth team's 1-1 home draw with Shrewsbury.