JAN VAN DEVENTER says his Chester side are in a ‘prime position’ for a late title surge following their latest victory.

A superb comeback performance at National League Two promotion rivals Fylde last weekend saw the visitors run out with an impressive 27-19 win over their promotion rivals.

The Hare Lane club's third successive league victory pushed them to within a point of leaders Hull Ionians with just four games left to play.

Van Deventer hailed a 'huge' performance from his players, who host third-placed Huddersfield tomorrow.

The South African coach said: "Fylde got their heads up with some early momentum, but I thought we adapted really well and produced one of our best performances of the season.

“Both sides knew exactly what was at stake in the game and I feel like the fact we’ve come away on the right side of the result really puts us in prime position for a title challenge.

“There’s still a long way to go and lots of points to play for, but we’re heading into the weekend full of confidence now.”

Chester had the edge over Huddersfield in the pre-Christmas reverse fixture, when Tom Foden was among the visitors’ try-scorers in a 21-15 victory in West Yorkshire.

And Van Deventer expects another fiercely-contested encounter on Saturday against opposition he rates highly.

“I think we’re two really well-matched sides”, he added.

“They’re back row plays with a really high intensity and they’re so competitive at the breakdown.

“In Chris Johnson they’ve got one of the best fly-halves in the whole league.

“He’s got a wealth of experience at this level and above and is a real danger for them.

“But we can’t get too carried away with their strengths, because we’ve got so many good qualities of our own.

“Defensively we’ve been exceptional this season and that’s as been as important to our success as anything else.

“We’ll need to keep that discipline about us and show the ruthlessness in attack that we’ve managed in the last few games.

“With home advantage we should be confident of beating anybody in this league.

“I know the lads are looking forward to another huge game and hopefully we’ll have a big crowd there to cheer us on. They can play a big part in a victory for us.”

Influential number 8 Shay Owen is one of four Chester players back in contention for the clash.