MANAGER Richard Hill is urging Eastleigh fans to get behind the National League club and embrace having “the best chairman in football.”

His respect for Stewart Donald rose another notch last week when the Spitfires chairman came out and publicly backed his manager – while blaming himself for trying to buy his way into the Football League.

Even after last week’s morale-boosting 2-1 win at Macclesfield, Eastleigh find themselves in 18th spot ahead of Saturday's rearranged visit of Chester (3pm).

And, according to Donald, the problems stem from him "paying over-inflated wages in the past, making it very difficult to attract the right players.”

Thanking the wealthy Oxfordshire businessman for his honesty, Hill said: “Stewart has done brilliant for me. He’s put his neck on the block by coming out and saying what he did.

“Whatever the fans think of me, they want to be careful what they wish for because they've got the best chairman in football – not just non-League.

“He's left people in no doubt that I’m here to stay and, for that, I have to thank him.

“A lot of people in football have contacted me – even friends from the Championship - and said ‘blimey, your chairman’s done brilliantly for you.’

“Stewart's a fantastic chairman who wants the best for Eastleigh FC and EFC supporters and sometimes, in my opinion, people should just have a little think before they speak.

"They should appreciate what they’ve got rather than finding problems with everything else around the football club.”

Eastleigh’s players can take enormous heart from the Macclesfield win going into Saturday's game. Chester, in contrast, slumped into the bottom four after falling to a 94th-minute goal at Maidstone United.

“Last week we played well. It was more of a resilient performance, getting back to how we were earlier in the season,” said Hill.

“It’s no more than we deserved after being unfortunate on several occasions away from home this season.”

Not for the first time, however, Eastleigh suffered a serious injury blow.

Defender Ryan Cresswell – just back after a year out with knee problems – faces at least another six weeks sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Gavin Hoyte returns from suspension to give options at right-back but, with Michael Green and Sam Wood both injured, the Spitfires will have problems at left-back if Reda Johnson's sore hamstring rules him out.

“Reda was complaining of soreness ten minutes into the second half at Macclesfield, but we had no one else to go on in that position,” said Hill.

“We had to calculate how far we could get him into the game without doing damage. We kept an eye on his movement and decided, with five minutes to go, that it was the right time to get him out. He did great to get that far.

“Reda’s not trained on grass this week, he’s been in the gym. We’ll look at him tomorrow and give him every opportunity to make it for Saturday.”