HARRY WHITE is set to hand Chester a major fitness boost and could feature in tonight’s clash at Gateshead.

The Blues make the long trip to the north-east looking to claim just a second win of the season at the International Stadium, and the 22-year-old striker could be involved for the first time in nearly a month after recovering from a torn thigh muscle sustained in the 1-1 draw at Hartlepool last month.

Brought in from Solihull Moors in the summer, White made a fine start to his Blues’ career with a man-of-the-match display in the 1-1 draw with Fylde, but was soon struggling with injury and can’t wait to be back in the fold, with a spot on the bench likely for tonight’s encounter.

Caretaker manager Tom Shaw will wait on a late fitness test for centre-back Ryan Astles although Nyal Bell is unavailable as he is on-loan from Gateshead.

“It’s been pretty much four weeks since that Hartlepool game, it’s been so frustrating,” he said.

“Sitting there, watching the games and not being able to do much, there’s nothing worse, any player will tell you that.

“I did a good session in the warm-up (before Ebbsfleet), I’ll train Monday and hopefully if I get through that then I’ll be involved on Tuesday.

“Obviously I won’t be starting as I’ll have to feel myself back in but just to be involved is encouraging so it feels good.

“I was buzzing throughout pre-season, a new club with new fans, I was raring to go. It’s just been such a downer so it’s extra frustrating being out for such a long time.

“But it got to the stage where I couldn’t carry on playing as the injury got too much, so best to rest up. Now my season can start again and hopefully we’ll go from there and I can play how I wanted to play from the start.”

White, who is enjoying life in the city having relocated following his summer move, conceded it has been a ‘strange month’ at the club with former boss Jon McCarthy losing his job after a poor start to the campaign which has left the Blues in the relegation zone.

The centre-forward, signed by McCarthy in early May, said he was ‘gutted’ to see the 46-year-old depart.

“You’re right, it was frustrating,” he explained. “I love Jon, he’s a great manager and I’m gutted to see him go.

“Every week I was saying ‘I hope I’m back, I really want to play for you’, because ultimately I wanted to help him save his job because he brought me here.

“All the lads tried to help him but it just didn’t work. Now we can go in with a fresh head, work harder and take it from there.”