'Everyone I know said I was biting off more than I can chew at Chester'
Connell Rawlinson talks to The Seal ahead of a season-defining final day
Connell Rawlinson’s managerial career will be 10 games old this weekend.
Should Chester get the job done with victory over King’s Lynn Town at the Deva Stadium in front of what is expected to be a bumper crowd, then the Blues will have booked a spot in the National League North play-offs.
Last weekend’s 2-1 win at Oxford City pushed Chester to the brink of qualification for a top-seven berth, a feat that had seemed unthinkable at the turn of the year given the club’s struggles to get a consistent run of good form going.
Former boss Calum McIntyre won three of his final four games in charge before his departure, and Rawlinson’s record since taking up the mantle as interim manager has been seven wins, one draw and one defeat. Over the past 15 games, Chester have taken 35 points, three more than the next best in the division, Kidderminster Harriers, a side already assured of the play-offs.
Fan sentiment has swung back into the positive, and there is a sense that maybe, having had their chances written off for much of the campaign, even after the late loss to Southport, which is Rawlinson’s only blemish, that the head of steam that has been built up in this moment, with this group of players, makes them the most dangerous team in the top seven.
