The centre half is one of three former Blues players in the Morecambe side expected to play a part in this Saturday's contest at Christie Park.

Artell is likely to feature alongside former City captain and midfielder, Stewart Drummond, and ex-City striker Michael Twiss, who will all be aiming to condemn Chester to a fifth straight defeat.

The Rotherham-born 28-year-old, who scored four goals in 80 appearances for Chester City between 2005 and 2007, is expecting a typically tough encounter against the Blues.

He said: "Last season's match between the sides ended 5-3 in Morecambe's favour and I feel there will be a lot of goals again.

"Chester need a result more than us, but our manager and the Morecambe players won't rest until we're safe from relegation.

"I'm expecting Chester to work us hard on the setpieces because I know how Mark Wright likes his teams to play having played for him.

"Mark Wright likes his players to get their head in where it hurts and that won't be any different on Saturday.

"But I know Chester have been struggling to score goals and I don't think they can just rely on one striker like Ryan Lowe to score their goals."

And Arte/l, who has played a key role in helping Morecambe steer a course away from the danger zone this season added: "We should have beaten Lincoln on Tuesday night instead of coming away with a 1-1 draw, but we paid the price instead of capitalising on our chances after dominating for 70 minutes.

"We know a win would have pulled us further away from the drop zone, but we know we're not safe yet.

"We'd rather look up the table than down, but the gaffer remains cautious. I remain optimistic that we can hopefully go on a run of good wins and then maybe we won't be far away from the play-offs.

"We've got a good side with Twissy (Michael Twiss) and Drums (Stewart Drummond) playing well at the moment.

"Twissy has come back into the team in the last three or four weeks and he scored a great goal against Brentford; and Drums does what he does best - he always has an impact in games."

Morecambe, like Chester, are currently experiencing a transfer embargo after exceeding the Football League's wage-capping rules.

Artell said: "Both Chester and Morecambe are down to the bare bones at the moment. We only had 17 players available before Tuesday's home match against Lincoln, and a few players are out with injuries for Saturday's match.

"But I'm sure both sides will be giving it everything they've got and that it will be another close game."