The Chester City boss watched his squad edged out in a 3-2 defeat in a friendly match against Championship club, Swansea City.

Two goals in seven second half minutes from midfielder Jay Harris levelled the match at 2-2 with six minutes left, before Swansea clinched victory at the death.

Davies said: "We went about the game in the right manner. We worked hard, and we've done bits and bobs on our shape, and I think it worked well especially when Ryan (Lowe) and Kevin (Ellison) went in.

"They didn't come out of the blocks too well in the first five minutes and we could have been 2-0 up.

"My assistant, Huw (Griffiths) made the point that goals change games, and if we'd scored those chances it could have been a different first half.

"I know Swansea made changes in the second half, but so did we, and our players came on and made an impact. Fair play to our lads, but that's the sort of competition I feel we've got this season. If anyone doesn't start in a game then they can come on, make an impact, and make that shirt their own.'"

Davies praised new signing Jay Harris for the part he played against Swansea.

He said: 'Jay rats around in midfield and we needed someone like him and Anthony Barry who could run forward and link up with the forwards.

"Jay showed in one of his goals that he could run beyond one of the forwards, so that gives us a slightly different option, but as long as we can put quality into whichever front man as it rotates then we can get a bit of success.'"

Davies was unhappy about the manner in which Swansea scored their third goal.

He added: "It looked like we were relieved after levelling the scores, and instead of seeing the game out and maybe nicking a goal at the other end we switched off and, against quality opposition you can't do that.'"

Davies confirmed that striker John Murphy had signed for League of Ireland club, St Patrick's Athletic, for a reported five-figure fee.

He said: "I spoke to John and the St Pat's manager earlier on and it's all been wrapped up, including the international clearance.

"John's decided to go a different way and it's a deal that suits everybody.

"John's been a great servant to this club. His ability of holding the ball up and bring people into play was evident to everybody.

"But John is now 31 years old and St Pat's offered him an extended contract which suited him.

"I think long-term we will probably want someone like John - every team has a big man in attack, but right now, as long as we can keep people fit which is down to a bit of luck as well, I thought our front three looked quite good against Swansea, and we've still got Paul Taylor and Paul McManus to throw in there as well.'"

Irish side St Patrick's eased through the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup with a comfortable 2-0 victory over their Latvian opponents at Richmond Park.

- Chester travel to AFC Telford United tomorrow for their final pre-season friendly, (3pm kick-off).

Ask Davies

If you have a question for Chester City's Simon Davies email it to digitalnews@nwn.co.uk and we'll ask as many as we can during our next weekly video interview with the Chester boss.