BERNARD MORLEY says Chester’s slim title hopes hinge on greater consistency between now and the end of the season.

The Blues re-ignited their push for National League North honours with a thrilling 3-2 win over King’s Lynn Town in midweek.

Victory lifted Chester to third in the standings and to within six points of the summit, but Morley has tempered expectations about a possible title tilt.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s home clash with sixth-placed Brackley Town, he said: “Our goal will be to get in the play-offs, it always has been.

“Anything else after that is a massive achievement. We’ve given ourselves a mountain to climb to do that, but if we keep winning our games, King’s Lynn are surely going to drop more points.

“It doesn’t get any easier for them on Saturday when they go to Altrincham, who haven’t been beaten in 16 games at home.

“We can’t get above our station. We’ve only won one game against King’s Lynn and we’ve only won two of our last four.

“We need to now go and put a run together and when we’ve won five or six - that’s when we can start to say this is Championship form or this is promotion form.

“Until we do that we have to keep chalking these game off.”

Morley insists belief will be central to Chester hitting a rich vein of form in their remaining 12 games and highlighted the disparity between a patchy display against Blyth Spartans and his side’s heroics against King’s Lynn.

He added: “This is where players have got to kick themselves, because they shouldn’t just be up for playing a top of the league side.

“I went into the King’s Lynn game as a manager with no anxiety whatsoever and wanting to embrace playing a team at the top of the league and enjoy it.

“Against Blyth, you’re thinking ‘it’s banana skin’.

“If we lose that game it’s three on the bounce and all of a sudden you’re under massive pressure.

“I’m not making excuses for the players, but they’ve got to have that belief now that they can beat anybody.

“We know we can, it’s just about finding that level of consistency.”

After surging into the play-off spots, Brackley’s form has tailed off in recent weeks.

Winless in five, the Saints’ latest disappointment came on Tuesday night at Southport where the hosts plundered a 95th minute leveller in a 1-1 draw at Haig Avenue.

“We’ve allowed the ball to stay live when we really should be killing the game off,” Brackley manager Kevin Wilkin told the club’s website.

“We had the opportunity to keep the ball high up the pitch and we didn’t need to go searching for another goal but we have to take this disappointment on the chin, learn from it and move on.”

Chester’s Joel Taylor is an injury doubt after sustaining a knock against King’s Lynn while fellow full-back Jamie Morgan returns from suspension.

Other games: Altrincham v King’s Lynn Town; Boston Utd v Telford Utd; Bradford PA v Kettering Town; Curzon Ashton v Gloucester City; Farsley Celtic v Blyth Spartans; Guiseley v Gateshead; Hereford v Darlington; Kidderminster Harriers v York City; Leamington v Southport; Spennymoor Town v Alfreton Town.