Bulls hitting promotion form

Chester City can draw level on points with Yeovil Town at the top of the Nationwide Conference if they beat Hereford United at the Deva Stadium tonight – but any victory over the in-form Bulls will be earned the hard way.

Hereford have scored nine goals in winning their last two matches and lie in sixth position, one point adrift of a play-off place. They are in form, after hitting five goals without reply past Woking last weekend, and look more likely to challenge for a return to the Football League than at any time since their relegation to the Conference in 1997.

The Bulls are making progress in resolving their financial worries – they hope to put back the repayment date of a £1.3m loan from a property company – and are also working with commercial interests and local authorities to speed up the redevelopment of their Edgar Street home.

On the pitch, Hereford's highly-experienced manager, Graham Turner, has built a squad apparently well suited to the demands of Conference football. Key players include the former Shrewsbury Town centre-back Andrew Tretton, the Welsh semi-professional international left-winger Paul Parry, and the former Nottingham Forest and Plymouth striker Steve Guinan, who scored a hat-trick in the Bulls' last away game at Barnet.

The Hereford defender Michael Rose, a former Chester player, will be especially eager to impress against his old club tonight. But he and his team-mates will have to be at their best to repel Chester's prolific strike pairing of Daryl Clare and Ryan Sugden, who have helped City score 13 goals in their last four matches.

Sugden is Chester's top scorer with 12 Conference goals this season, while Clare has found the net eight times in the league since arriving at the Deva from Boston United.