Promotion the target for Chester

Ambitious Chester owner Steven Vaughan says that the club are targeting promotion from League Two next season.

And he has told BBC Radio Merseyside that he will back his manager Simon Davies in the transfer market.

Vaughan said: "Simon Davies has had the brief 'You get me a successful side and you will keep your job.

"Simon will be treated like every other manager here. He will get the budget to hopefully get us up the division next year."

• Simon Davies was born in Cheshire at Winsford on St George's Day (23 April) 1974
• He played in the same FA Youth Cup winning team for Manchester United as David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers
• He first joined the coaching staff at City in 2006 and had his first game in caretaker charge a year ago following Mark Wright's departure

Davies, who had been in the role on a temporary basis following the dismissal of Bobby Williamson in March, was given a two-year contract last month - prior to City completing their bid to stay in the Football League.

His immediate aim was to keep City in League Two, which he managed to do with a game to spare, following goalless draws against Shrewsbury Town and Stockport County.

Chester finished their season on Saturday with another 0-0 draw against Macclesfield at the Deva Stadium - the first time they had managed three successive clean sheets in more than a year.

That added some small solace from a season which once promised much.

Chester stood second in League Two in early November, looking a good bet for promotion. But things started to go wrong following the departure of assistant manager Malcolm Thomson to Inverness Caledonian Thistle a month later.

They were to win just three of their final 28 league games following Thomson's exit, a sorry run that eventually cost Williamson his job.

Davies has so far fared little better, with just one win in his 12 games at the helm. But there are at least signs of a few green shoots of recovery.

Having been promoted from his role as Head of Youth, he has wasted no time tying up the immediate futures of his more promising young players. And Davies has already admitted that there will be at least four or five new faces coming in this summer.

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