CHORLEY manager John Hughes is confident his side will soon recover from their miserable start to the season.

The Magpies dropped into the bottom three of the UniBond First Division table following their 2-1 defeat against Mossley on Tuesday, despite it being the third consecutive game they had dominated.

But they have a break from the league tomorrow when they travel to take on Guiseley in the FA Cup first qualifying round, with Hughes backing his troops to give forthcoming opponents a hiding.

And he believes Dave Gray could be the man to inflict most damage.

"He's been working really hard since he recovered from his hernia operation during pre-season," Hughes said.

"He was outstanding on Saturday and played on his own up front when we went down to 10 men on Tuesday and worked his socks off.

"I was pleased because he's getting better and better and it's only a matter of time before he starts firing on all cylinders."

He added: "I've been asking the lads if any of them have run over a black cat because we've had no luck at all.

"But we've been playing well and somewhere along the line we will give a team a whipping, then things will change.

"People want results now - we all do - but there are still 42 games to go and I have no doubt we will start to move away from the bottom of the table very soon."

David Eatock is unavailable for the next week, while Mike Weedon (broken toe), Matt Swailes (knee ligamnet) and Danny Queeley (knee) are sidelined through injury but Hughes is aiming to boost the squad with a couple of new signings.