Bernard Morley says he and Anthony Johnson must get Chester ‘winning football matches again’ as they begin their first full week in the job.

The duo were barely out of the game a week before being appointed the Blues new management team, having left National League North champions Salford City owing to some differing views with the Ammies owners, who include former Manchester United stars Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.

The rot set in at Chester during the back-end of the 2016-17 campaign when they failed to win at home after mid-December and lost their final six matches of that season under Jon McCarthy.

The Blues – who sacked both McCarthy and Marcus Bignot last season – suffered 25 league defeats during the 2017-18 campaign and the losing habit is something which needs to be kicked into touch according to Morley.

“It’s a brave statement from the club,” he said.

“We need to get this football club winning football matches again. There’s no major pressure on us in terms of league finish but Jonno and myself won’t settle for anything but as high as we can possibly finish.

“Everybody thinks we’ve been surrounded by money, but that’s just a perception. At Ramsbottom and to an extent at Salford that is a fair way from the truth.

“Winning games gets fans back through the gates, we know that, and the club knows that. If we’re not winning games and the gates don’t increase, then we’ll know our fate. That’s how it works.

“We want a team who will run through brick walls for us. We want lads who will go to Kidderminster on a cold, Tuesday night in the winter and get the job done.”

The Blues financial problems have been well-documented in recent months, with significantly cost-cutting having taken place to avoid a potential second insolvency within eight years, Chester’s supporters rallying round to raise over £100,000 to keep their club afloat.

“I don’t know everything that has gone here over the past six months or so but obviously the off-field problems have been well-documented,” Morley said.

“The board told us the club were in a sticky situation around Christmas time, and that they’ve had to significantly cut the wage bill. The board have been open with us and we believe them to be genuine, good people running this club.

“We’re very much here to do a job on the pitch. We’ll take care of everything on the grass, and if we can start winning some games then investors might look at that and become interested in the club.”

Morley admits himself and Johnson will be look to a blend of ‘youth and experience’ as they begin a crucial recruitment process to form a squad capable of challenging for the play-offs in National League North.

“Youth is the way forward, we’d never block the pathway for their way forward,” he added.

“It’s important to play young lads when they’re ready though. Ideally, we want a balance of youth and experience, but it is important we get that youth side of things and looking at the work that’s going on here with the academy, I don’t think we’ll really struggle on that front.”