Bernard Morley says he and Anthony Johnson are relishing the ‘massive challenge’ ahead of them after taking over at Chester.

The joint-managers were appointed on Tuesday night, just a week after their surprise exit from Salford City, who they guided to the National League North title just weeks earlier, with the Blues acting quickly to sign the duo up on two-year contracts.

Morley, 34, and Johnson, 35, were cast into the limelight on the BBC series ‘Class of 92: Out of Their League’, a fly-on-the-wall documentary following Salford’s rise through the football pyramid under the ownership of former Manchester United players including Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, and will now take on their third job together having previously guided Ramsbottom to two promotions in the lower leagues.

“It’s always disappointing to leave a job after a period of success and the season we’d just had,” Morley explained.

“But we both believe Chester is the right club for us now and offers the challenge that we need as managers.

“It has a great fanbase, it’s a great city and there are good, genuine people running the club.

“We had three to four options, a couple of which we didn’t really consider, but we did speak to one club in the league above. However, Chester felt like the right fit for us both.

“It’s a massive challenge but one we were very keen on. It’s a big club in a big city there’s a chance to really do something here.

“We’ve not got massive amounts of pressure on us; the club wants stability first and foremost after what has gone on with being relegated.

“We’ve not been told ‘win the league or else you’ll be out of a job’. But equally it wouldn’t be a job me and Jonno would be interested in if we didn’t think it was a real challenge, and the play-offs must be the minimum aim even with the budget as it is.

“We don’t do consolidation. It’s not a word we use.”

When asked if this is a chance to prove themselves away from big-spending Salford, Morley replied: “It’s massive for us. People are waiting for us to trip up.

“There’s a perception that we’ve always had the money follow us around. That’s not the case.

“Look at the job we did at Ramsbottom, it was on a low budget but it’s about the challenge and the challenge here is can we finish in the play-offs on our budget?”

Morley and Johnson are set to revert to a part-time structure at Chester owing to the restrictions on the budget ahead of the 2018-19 campaign, with the former Ramsbottom duo convinced they can bring in better quality players if they move away from the current design.

“I’ve got a meeting Friday where we’ll discuss it, but we have already suggested the hybrid route would be a struggle on our budget,” Morley continued.

“Full-time would be a real struggle, I don’t think it would work here. We’ll be looking at a platform of training two to three nights per week, with maybe one morning session.

“The players we’ll look to work with and the players we’ll look to recruit, they’ll be better players in a part-time system.”

Johnson is away on a pre-booked vacation over the next fortnight, but Morley confirmed their recruitment drive will begin immediately, with a need to ‘act quickly’ regarding Chester’s current squad and potential incomings.

“Recruitment is key and we’ve got to act quickly,” he added.

“I’ll meet with the players we’ve inherited, some on contracts and those out-of-contract and see if they are willing to work with us. If they are we will give them a chance.

“I’ve not spoken to anyone yet but that has to happen quickly. The next two weeks are important in terms of cementing a future for the football club.

“We’ll get the ball rolling in terms of recruitment possibly by the end of this week. We won’t just bring anyone in for the sake of it but there’s a need for urgency now before players go on their holidays.”