The Chester City boss has revealed that his shot-stopper will go into Saturday's opening League Two game at Dagenham and Redbridge without a replacement goalkeeper on the bench.

Danby was an ever-present in City's team last term and produced a string of impressive saves to help the Blues steer their way clear of relegation towards the end of the last campaign.

Davies said: "I need to look at the goalkeeper situation and look at a replacement for striker John Murphy.

"It looks like I'll be going into Saturday's match without any goalkeeping cover, but that doesn't concern me too much.

"I'm confident in John Danby's ability and I'm sure he can play at a higher level than League Two.

"He impressed everybody at the club with a string of fine performances towards the end of last season, including an outstanding display against Stockport County which many people believed saved us from relegation.

"John played in every one of our games and he was only replaced for the last 20 minutes of our home game against Darlington by Phil Palethorpe who was released by the club.

"I suppose it's sod's law that something will happen to John Danby early in our season without a substitute goalkeeper on our bench."

Davies travelled to Bromsgrove at the weekend to watch the Blues' opening day opponents, Dagenham and Redbridge, and saw the Londoners win their friendly 4-0.

He added: "My only concern with our squad of players is a lack of height.

"Paul Linwood has been struggling with a back injury, but I'm hoping he'll be fine for Saturday's match.

"A lot of teams in our division don't have the quality that we have in our squad, but I was impressed with the way Dagenham played at their setpieces.

"They seemed a confident side and have two players over six-foot who could cause a threat."

Davies has put a contingency plan in place in case club captain, Linwood, fails to win his race against time to be fit for the trip to Dagenham and Redbridge.

He said: "I'm confident that Linny (Paul Linwood) will be fit for the match, but if he isn't I have cover in that position with Shaun Kelly and Kevin Roberts both available.

"We didn't select Paul for the friendly games against Swansea and Telford because we wanted him fit for the start of the season. It was a precaution because I wanted our medical staff to have time to get Paul fit for the opening day of the season."

Chester fans wanting tickets for Tuesday night's Carling Cup first round home tie against Leeds United are reminded that the club ticket office at the Deva Stadium will be open tomorrow from 10am, and tickets can still be purchased at the club shop in Chester city centre.

- Rotherham are docked 17 points – story on page 46.

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.