Chester full-back Kevin Roberts believes the unity among the Blues squad can play a huge part in any potential success next season.

Roberts left arch-rivals Wrexham earlier in the summer before signing a one-year deal at the club where he made his professional debut.

The 29-year-old admits he was delighted to secure his Blues return and says that the squad assembled by managerial duo Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley is brimming with positivity in pre-season.

"There's a feel-good factor around the place and a good bond among the squad here. I don't think some people realise how important that is at a football club", said Roberts.

"Team spirit is huge and even though I've only been back here a few weeks, it feels great to be back and like it's the right place for me.

"Coming back here wasn't a difficult decision at all once I knew Chester were interested in me.Chester was always my preferred choice and they were one of the first clubs to make contact, so they made it quite a straightforward decision for me.

"They (Johnson and Morley) were a big part of that. They're fair and honest guys and there aren't too many of those in football.

"They're both big characters and excellent motivators. They expect hard work from every single player, but also know how to get players up for a game."

After a niggling injury kept him out of Chester's opening three pre-season friendlies, Roberts impressed on his Blues return in a goalless home draw with Carlisle United.

The satisfaction of helping Chester keep their first clean sheet of the summer was tempered by an ugly challenge by United forward Hallam Hope, who was sent off after he pole-axed Roberts with a punch.

Roberts dismissed the incident as 'stupidity' from the Barbados international and insists that the Blues' defensive resilience against 'decent' League Two opposition augurs well for the 2019/20 campaign.

He said: "You don't expect to see a punch thrown in a friendly. I've never seen anything like that in a pre-season game, but the guy's got frustrated and has lashed out in a moment of stupidity.

"It was right in front of the ref too, which was strange because it was always going to be a sending off.

"But as a unit I thought the lads played really well. We looked solid and limited a decent side to just a few clear-cut chances, which was really pleasing for us."

Chester's defensive record was the joint-worst among the top-half finishers in last season's National League North campaign.

That record undoubtedly played its part in Chester's ending the season in ninth place and three points adrift of the play-off spots.

Asked if he felt Johnson and Morley would compromise their preferred attacking style for a more cautious approach next season, Roberts was non-committal.

He added: "I don't think we'll see a big change in tactics. It's more about tightening up, limiting our mistakes, and learning from the ones we do make.

"Promotion, whether it's from the National League or the National League North, is getting harder each season.

"So if we're going to try to force away into those places at the top, we need to minimise errors so we're not put any unnecessary pressure on ourselves."