THERE'S still plenty of time to catch Conference leaders Chester City, insists Hereford United coach Richard O'Kelly.

The Bulls trail Mark Wright's side by eight points following last weekend's surprise defeat to Burton Albion but it's not panic stations yet says Graham Turner's right hand man.

"We have to ignore the eight point gap because there's a lot of things that can change between now and the end of the season," said O'Kelly.

"Three weeks ago we were in the situation where all of a sudden we grabbed a late winner against Stevenage, Chester lost in the 90th minute and we were within touching distance.

"It's come full circle again but there's still a lot of football to be played so we just have to concentrate on one game at a time."

Concentration will be a priority for Hereford's defence in today's league clash at Gravesend & Northfleet.

The Bulls have shipped three goals in their last three games and it's a worry admits O'Kelly. "If you concede eight goals in three games you have to look at that area of the pitch but defending starts from the front," he said. "Against Burton we conceded goals that we haven't looked like doing all season.

"We can put that down as a one off but defending is a responsibility for everyone in the team, not just the defenders.

"We've got to get back to doing what we did before which was being really good at getting the ball back once we'd made a mistake and lost it." Despite the Burton defeat, morale remains high in the Edgar Street camp and O'Kelly believes there were some positives to take from that game.

"Watching the players train in the week you could see the defeat was out of their system," he said. One plus was our first half performance which was as good as we've produced for a while and if we'd gone in two or three up nobody would have complained.

"Now we've got to strive to achieve that level of football for 90 minutes."