Focus needed from spluttering Spireites

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Indifferent form over the past month has suddenly left the Spireites slip showing, and after leading the division for 21 weeks of the season they now find themselves clinging on to an automatic promotion place, four points adrift of Rochdale and Scunthorpe United, and just three points – or one win – ahead of Fleetwood Town and Burton Albion with five games left to play in the race for promotion.

In the past six weeks Chesterfield have blown a five-point lead at the top of Division Two, and the 1-1 draw at the Proact against struggling Newport County typified the problem which has dogged the Spireites all season and which of late has caused both Paul Cook and the fans so much frustration – the team’s inability to turn their superiority into goals; the lack of a cutting edge.

County were hardly in the game, but Chesterfield, despite having two ‘goals’ ruled out for offside, led only by courtesy of Jimmy Ryan’s fluke, yet had enough chances to put the game to bed long before County’s late equaliser, which cost them two valuable and possibly vital points!

It was a similar story in March as the Spireites, playing attractive football, recorded just two wins in 10 games during the month, which included goalless draws against lowly Portsmouth and Mansfield and defeats at Accrington and Plymouth, games they could, and perhaps should have won.

The problem was evident for the whole nation to see in the televised JPT Final at Wembley against Peterborough, when for long spells Chesterfield, with Sam Morsy outstanding, played the better football and lost because they failed to take their chances, squandering at least three before half time, leaving Posh to take full advantage of their profligacy in front of goal to go on and lift the trophy with a 3-1 victory.

The recent dip in form seems to have coincided with the absence of the injured Drew Talbot, and general opinion and statistics both show that the Spireites are a more potent force with Talbot at right-back and Darikwa playing further forward, which allows a more compact and fluid midfield to push up in support of the attack.

The addition of Ollie Banks alongside Roberts, Doyle, Richards, and O’Shea seemed to be the icing on the cake in this line-up, until injuries began to take their toll.

Now with the additional loss to injury of Banks himself, Cook is relying on loan players Mason Bennett and Daniel Kearns, brought in as cover, to bolster his misfiring attack and help keep his faltering team ahead of in-form Fleetwood and Burton, both of whom they play in their final two games of the season.

However, Cook is well aware that the Spireites fate lies in their own hands, and that the other three remaining games against lowly Hartlepool, Exeter and Dagenham & Redbridge are all must-win games – if he wants to avoid another trip to Wembley in the play-offs!

Don’t forget to follow @FanZone!

Focus needed from spluttering Spireites

admin

Indifferent form over the past month has suddenly left the Spireites slip showing, and after leading the division for 21 weeks of the season they now find themselves clinging on to an automatic promotion place, four points adrift of Rochdale and Scunthorpe United, and just three points – or one win – ahead of Fleetwood Town and Burton Albion with five games left to play in the race for promotion.

In the past six weeks Chesterfield have blown a five-point lead at the top of Division Two, and the 1-1 draw at the Proact against struggling Newport County typified the problem which has dogged the Spireites all season and which of late has caused both Paul Cook and the fans so much frustration – the team’s inability to turn their superiority into goals; the lack of a cutting edge.

County were hardly in the game, but Chesterfield, despite having two ‘goals’ ruled out for offside, led only by courtesy of Jimmy Ryan’s fluke, yet had enough chances to put the game to bed long before County’s late equaliser, which cost them two valuable and possibly vital points!

It was a similar story in March as the Spireites, playing attractive football, recorded just two wins in 10 games during the month, which included goalless draws against lowly Portsmouth and Mansfield and defeats at Accrington and Plymouth, games they could, and perhaps should have won.

The problem was evident for the whole nation to see in the televised JPT Final at Wembley against Peterborough, when for long spells Chesterfield, with Sam Morsy outstanding, played the better football and lost because they failed to take their chances, squandering at least three before half time, leaving Posh to take full advantage of their profligacy in front of goal to go on and lift the trophy with a 3-1 victory.

The recent dip in form seems to have coincided with the absence of the injured Drew Talbot, and general opinion and statistics both show that the Spireites are a more potent force with Talbot at right-back and Darikwa playing further forward, which allows a more compact and fluid midfield to push up in support of the attack.

The addition of Ollie Banks alongside Roberts, Doyle, Richards, and O’Shea seemed to be the icing on the cake in this line-up, until injuries began to take their toll.

Now with the additional loss to injury of Banks himself, Cook is relying on loan players Mason Bennett and Daniel Kearns, brought in as cover, to bolster his misfiring attack and help keep his faltering team ahead of in-form Fleetwood and Burton, both of whom they play in their final two games of the season.

However, Cook is well aware that the Spireites fate lies in their own hands, and that the other three remaining games against lowly Hartlepool, Exeter and Dagenham & Redbridge are all must-win games – if he wants to avoid another trip to Wembley in the play-offs!

Don’t forget to follow @FanZone!