CHESTER players cannot afford to dwell on a damaging defeat at Sedgley Park, says head coach Jan Van Deventer.

The title-chasing Hare Lane club fell to their heaviest defeat of the National League Two campaign in a 45-7 reverse last weekend.

Defeat saw Chester slip five points behind league leaders Hull Ionians with two games remaining, and Chester are now aiming to bounce back at home to Otley tomorrow.

The Yorkshire club inflicted a 6-0 defeat in the reverse fixture, with two penalties settling the attritional contest.

Victory this weekend would guarantee Chester’s play-off place in their bid to reach National League One, but Van Deventer will not countenance the idea that the title is out of reach.

“You’d have to say that Hull are in the driving seat now, but we’ll keep on battling to catch them until it’s impossible for us to do so”, he said.

“There can be no sulking and no dwelling on what happened against Sedgley, where we were very much second best in all areas.

"We have to move on quickly and make sure we bounce back in the right way now against Otley.

“The game we lost up there was played in probably the worst weather conditions I can remember - it was just horrendous.

“ It was an ugly game in awful wind and rain and they managed to grind out a scrappy victory.

“Since then they’ve been hit with a points deduction for fielding an ineligible player and they don’t seem to have much left to play for in terms of league position.

“We won’t be complacent though, because we need a response after what happened at Sedgley.

"We’re looking for a big performance to get us back on track in the final weeks of the season."

Scrum-half Tom Holloway and number 8 Shay Owen both miss out for the hosts.

Hull can take a step nearer to the title with a home victory against Leicester Lions on Saturday, while third-placed Huddersfield visit Wharfedale.

Sedgley Park head to Fylde, Peterborough Lions host Tynedale, Sheffield Tigers go to Hinckley, Stourbridge entertain Macclesfield, while Preston Grasshopers go to South Leicester.