ALEX LYNCH admits Chester are low on confidence and hopes the new manager can have the desired effect on his team-mates.

The Blues suffered a morale-sapping 4-0 thrashing at Dover Athletic at the weekend which leaves the managerless outfit 21st in the National League, having collected just one win from their opening 11 matches.

The poor of run of form cost previous manager Jon McCarthy his job earlier this month, with the Blues set to appoint their new boss this week ahead of Saturday’s home clash with Maidenhead United.

And there is no doubt a home win would be a huge relief to everyone connected with the club, with Chester currently on a club record run of 16 winless home matches, stretching back to December 17.

Goalkeeper Lynch accepts that dismal run has had a debilitating effect on confidence levels amongst the squad.

“We need a bit more ruthlessness in both boxes, we shouldn’t be conceding four goals to anyone in this league,” goalkeeper Lynch said.

“There were a couple more chances here and there as well. So in their box we’d obviously like to start scoring a few more goals, and in our box we definitely need to try and not concede as many goals.

“It’s probably a confidence thing as well. Maybe no one will say it but we’re low on confidence, it might be that. Whoever comes in as the new manager might just give us that lift and hopefully we can get back on track and start pushing up the table.”

The 22-year-old, who produced a man-of-the-match performance on his return to the starting line-up at the Crabble, concedes that Chester gave away ‘sloppy’ goals and felt Dover were willing to ‘do the ugly part’ of the game more so than the Blues, who were bitterly disappointing in the final half an hour, conceding three times.

“It’s very disappointing, to concede four and not score ourselves isn’t good enough considering the amount of possession we had,” he continued.

“Dover did the ugly part of the game better than us but like you say, it wasn’t good enough.

“That’s the first time I’ve never kicked a ball long since I’ve been in men’s football. That shows how much possession we had playing out from the back. For all the possession we had we didn’t really create too many chances in the first-half.

“It’s a sloppy first goal to concede from a corner. Set-pieces are the times when you’ve got to be a bit dirty and do the basics right.

“It’s not ideal but we’ve got to pick ourselves up now.”

For Holyhead-born Lynch, a return to the team did at least leave him with some cause for optimism, replacing Conor Mitchell who was dropped after scoring an injury time own goal in the 3-2 defeat at Gateshead.

The stopper, who prevented Dover from extending their lead any further with a string of good saves, also praised caretaker boss Tom Shaw for the job he has done at the helm over the past fortnight.

“It was good to be back in the team, of course I love playing football and I love playing for Chester,” he added.

“Shawsy’s a good mate of mine. We’ve become good friends during his time as a player and a coach and I’d do anything to win for him.

“All the boys have enjoyed working for him, even when he was doing his bits as a coach before, we enjoyed that and he’s come in and settled the boys.

“Keeping everyone happy is hard for him because he’s got people who he’s played with, he’s made tough decisions and upset a few people.

“But I think he’s handled it brilliantly. It was good to be back in the team and hopefully we can start picking up some results soon.”