Hereford United face the most crucial weekend of their season with two vital matches each for Nationwide Conference leaders Chester City and the second-placed Bulls set to decide the destination of the league title.

United, who entertain sixth-placed Barnet on Saturday and visit third-placed Aldershot Town on Monday, know that nothing less than a maximum six points from the two games will keep alive their hopes of an automatic return to the Football League.

Chester, meanwhile, host fourth-placed Exeter City, who will face no FA action over alleged registration anomalies concerning the signing of Dwane Lee, on Saturday and make the short trip to fifth-placed Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday.

The Bulls had good cause to hope that Chester might well have dropped points from two potentially tough matches during the past week at Accrington Stanley and at home to Aldershot. But the Cheshire side kept their own excellent run going with two wins which sees them six points clear of Hereford at the top of the table.

Hereford director of football Graham Turner admitted his disappointment at Tuesday night's result when he was a more-than-interested spectator at the Deva Stadium.

"Chester started well and quickly went two goals ahead but when Aldershot got back to 2-1 it seemed as if they might get something from the game," he said. "But Chester broke away and scored twice more, from a free-kick and a penalty, and by the end Aldershot looked a tired side.

"They have had three midweek games recently as well as an FA Trophy semi-final, so, with another game on Saturday, we might just catch them right on Monday as we're still looking quite fresh."

The Bulls, at worst, need a single win to guarantee second place in the table but must do without full-back Michael Rose for their Easter programme.

The former Chester full-back is suspended for both games after racking up 10 yellow cards this season and is likely to be replaced by Simon Travis.

United have no new injury worries with Mark Beesley set to reclaim a place in the squad after recovering from a viral infection.