Fleetwood Preview: Spireites looking to bounce back

Tomorrow afternoon we face a Halloween trip to North West side Fleetwood, also known as the cod army. Fleetwood are struggling currently and have recently fired manager Graham Alexander. The Spireites will be looking to get back to winning ways after that 3-0 loss to Scunthorpe last weekend.



After a decent start to the season for Fleetwood, winning against Bury and Colchester in two of their opening three games, things quite rapidly declined for them. After that, six games without a win, which included a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Gillingham, caused them to part with manager Graham Alexander on the 30th September, while they were sat in 20th. On the 6th October they appointed former Coventry boss Steven Pressley as their new manager, and since his appointment they have won two and lost two, losing 1-0 to Coventry and 3-0 to Sheff Utd, but beating Burton 4-0 and  beating Barnsley 1-0 last weekend. They currently sit in 20th, with 15 points and -4 GD from 15 games.

Dan Jones and Byron Harrison will miss out tomorrow, Jones being suspended after his sending off last week, and Harrison being out due to a knee injury. Tomorrow we will see the much needed return of defender Ian Evatt, who completed his suspension at the weekend, and we also have a new defensive option in Richard Wood, who has just arrived on loan from Rotherham. Saunders now has four centre backs to choose from, and with Hird being out of favour, and Raglan still learning, it is likely that we'll see Wood and Evatt in the two central defensive positions tomorrow. Since his return from the USA Olympic team, winger Gboly Ariyibi has been out of favour, for whatever reason, but we could see him return to action tomorrow after out lack lustre attacking performance last weekend. Tomorrow we won't have the pleasure of watching a midfield battle between Jimmy Ryan and Sam Morsy, as former Spireite Ryan is suspended due to picking up five yellows already so far this season. Other than that, there's no Fleetwood absentees.

Biggest threat: Robert Grant



The 25 year old versatile striker has been a vital part of Fleetwood's recent improved form. The former Accrington, Scunthorpe and Rochdale man can play either up top or in attacking midfield, and has been in fine goal scoring form recently. He has scored five so far this season, making him top scorer for Fleetwood at the moment. He bagged twice in Fleetwood's amazing 4-0 win over top side Burton, and also scored a last gasp winner in Fleetwood's 2-1 JPT win over Shrewsbury. He also netted once against Gillingham and once against Port Vale last month, meaning he has scored five goals in his last eight games. Not bad. We also need to look out for big 6ft 3 striker Jamie Proctor, who has scored 4 goals so far this season.

My Score Prediction: Fleetwood 1-3 Chesterfield

Despite last week's loss, I am more than confident that we can come away with a win tomorrow. Fleetwood will be without Jimmy Ryan, who is a massive part of their team, and they have also lost Richard Wood, who was on loan for them up to last weekend. With Evatt coming back from suspension, and the arrival of Wood adding to our defensive quality, I think we will be able to keep the likes of Grant and Proctor quiet for the majority of tomorrow's game, and we all know scoring hasn't really been a problem for us this season.

Richard Wood and Liam Graham join the Spireites

Yesterday Dean Saunders brought in top defender Richard Wood on a three month loan from Rotherham United, and also New Zealand U20 international Liam Graham on a permanent deal.



Richard Wood fact file:

Age: 30
Nationality: English
Height: 6ft 3
Position: CB
Teams played for: Sheff Wed, Coventry, Charlton, Rotherham, Crawley and Fleetwood.

Wood is a solid and experienced defender who could plug the hole in our defence which has seen us concede 28 goals in 17 games in all competitions so far this season.

Wood played for Saunders last season when he was on loan at Crawley, and he has recently finished a loan spell at Fleetwood, playing in their 1-0 win over Barnsley at the weekend. He will play as number 34 for the Spireites, and is available to play in the FA Cup. He will make a great partner for Evatt, and also force the up and coming Charlie Raglan to fight even harder for a first team spot. Even though he's only here on an emergency three month loan, he will no doubt give us some more in depth strength and help us boost our goal difference and move up that table. Top signing Saunders!



Liam Graham fact file:

Age: 23
Nationality: New Zealand/Australia (Born in Melbourne)
Height: 5ft 11
Position: RB
Teams played for: Ascoli, Monza and Pro Patria

Liam Graham has represented New Zealand at U20 level, and has joined us after a spell on trial at the club. He also had a while at Coventry, also on trial.

After impressing for the reserve side, Saunders signed Graham on as a player for the future more than for an immediate impact. Saunders said he's 'not a player who will immediately be in contention for a place in the first team, but we feel that we can work on developing him as a player in the reserves'. After returning from his long term injury, Graham provides a strong back up for Saunders. While he hasn't been signed to play for the starting eleven straight away, he could feature this weekend against Fleetwood. Left back Dan Jones is suspended this weekend, so Saunders could choose to play Talbot in LB, and put Graham in RB.

In other news, we have drawn non-league side FC United of Manchester in the first round of the FA Cup. A real footballing club, FC United turned down the chance to be on the telly in the first round game, saying football is for the fans and not for TV. Should be a top day out at a real non-league ground, bringing back many memories of the beautiful Saltergate...

Scunthorpe Preview: Another qaulity ref visits the proact...

This afternoon we saw the Spireites lost to in form Lincolnshire side Scunthorpe United. A decent game was ruined by a quite appalling referee and a very dodgy sending off, and our fans certainly didn't hold back in abusing the referee this afternoon...


Saunders unsurprisingly went with the same starting eleven as on Tuesday night, except for Sam Hird coming in at CB to replace the suspended Evatt. Our real first chance came when Sam Morsy played Blake through after a good solo run, only for the striker to try, and fail, to chip the Scunthorpe keeper from around 18 yards out. Thinking about it, i'm not really sure why he tried to chip him when he was stood on his goal line. Dan Gardner was the next player to have a go for us, with a powerful shot from outside the box, which was goal bound before being blocked away by a Scunthorpe defender. Towards the end of the first half, United started building the pressure and forced a fantastic double save from Tommy Lee, and we were more than happy to go in at half time level after a very even first half. At the start of the second half, the gap in the defence left by Evatt's suspension was beginning to show as we were struggling to cope with the attacking prowess of Scunthorpe's Paddy Madden, Gary McSheffrey and Tom Hopper. This took it's toll when McSheffrey was put through in the 55th minute, and brought down in the box by Jones. Definite penalty, but not a red card. There was at least three more players around the Scunthorpe forward. Paddy Madden took the penalty and sent Lee the wrong way with a cool finish to the centre of the goal. Five minutes later, Talbot was studded in the head by a high foot from Scunthorpe's Jordan Clarke, definite red card you'd think wouldn't you? However, god knows why, the ref only saw it as a yellow, just minutes after sending off Jones. After that it all fell apart really, and in the 63rd minute McSheffrey who was a pain in the arse all game, fired a beautiful right footed shot in to the top corner to put the Iron 2 up. Annoyingly, the goal was assisted by Clarke, who shouldn't have even been on the pitch at that point. The games was wrapped up in the 78th minute when Paddy Madden hit a shot from 8 yards which went in via a few deflections. Very frustrating stuff for the spireites, the sending off changed the game really.

My man of the match: Sam Morsy



The increasingly vital midfielder had another good game today, no surprise really though. He was at the centre of everything on Tuesday and he protected the defence, and he did exactly the same today. If it hadn't of been for Morsy today, we probably wouldn't have made nearly as many chances as we did. His recently formed partnership with Chris Herd is probably, in my opinion, just as good as his midfield partnership with Jimmy Ryan last season. Other good performances came from Tommy Lee and Novak, who along with Morsy, are both starting to look a level above the rest of the team.

Player ratings:

Tommy Lee: 7
Drew Talbot: 6
Charlie Raglan: 6
Sam Hird: 6
Dan Jones: 6
Sam Morsy: 7
Chris Herd: 7
Dan Gardner: 6
Jay O'Shea: 6
Lee Novak: 7
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake: 6

Scunthorpe preview: Three on the trot?

Tomorrow afternoon we will face a visit from Lincolnshire side Scunthorpe United. The Iron have been a pretty familiar face with Spireite fans recently, as we played them five times last season, twice in the league, once in the JPT and twice in the FA Cup. Both times we played at the Proact we won, so hopefully we can keep that up tomorrow...



A rather shocking start to the season, which included losses to Burton, Wigan, Blackpool, Rochdale, Southend and Walsall saw Scunthorpe lingering around the bottom of the table at the end of September. In those first ten league games, Scnuthorpe won only two, against Crewe and Coventry. However, a recent surge of good form has seen them rise up to 16th. In their last four games, they have beaten Fleetwood 1-0, Oldham 4-2, and Shrewsbury 2-1. However, they did lose 2-1 to league leaders Gillingham on Tuesday, while we were enjoying our 3-0 win over Southend. Their cup form has been very Spireites esker, not winning one game. In the league cup, they were knocked out by Barnsley in the first round, the dingles winning 7-6 on penalties. In the JPT, they lost to Barnsley yet again, this time with the south Yorkshire side winning 2-1 in normal time.

Evatt is the only player out tomorrow (other than Angel), due to picking up too many yellows. Chris Herd is available despite worries that he could also be suspended, which is a bonus considering his quality performances in the last few games. There are no other absentees or worries for tomorrow, and Saunders could go for exactly the same squad as Tuesday, except with Hird in CB rather than Evatt. Novak, Blake and Morsy all had fantastic games on Tuesday, so I would be shocked if they didn't start tomorrow, however Saunders has the choice to swap either O'Shea or Gardner with Simons, but I doubt he'll change much from earlier in the week. Saying that, Talbot had another suspect performance on Tuesday, looking behind the pace of the game, and Saunders may choose to draft Herd into RB then put O'Niel in midfield with Morsy.  Darius Henderson, Stephen Dawson, Jamie Ness and Niall Canavan are all unavailable for Mark Robins' squad tomorrow.

Biggest threat: Paddy Madden



Madden is Scunthorpe's top scorer at the moment on seven, and is also the league's joint second top scorer along with the likes of Sheff Utd's Billy Sharp and Bury's Leon Clarke. He has played a massive part in Scunthorpe's recent run of form, scoring the winners against Fleetwood and Shrewsbury, then also netting in the win over Oldham. Other Scunthorpe players who could cause us problems tomorrow are former Spireite winger Gary McSheffrey, who is on two goals so far this season, and also Scott Laird, who has bagged two in his last two games.

My score prediction: Chesterfield 3-1 Scunthorpe

Tomorrow will be by no means easy, but I think we'll come away with all three points. Blake looks so dangerous currently, and with the quality of Novak's play, and the players in the midfield, I think the service to him will be non stop tomorrow, just like it was on Tuesday night. The confidence in the team is definitely back, however I feel Evatt's suspension could leave a big hole in the defence, which Scunthorpe will be eager to exploit. While Scunthorpe have won three of their last four, on paper their results haven't really been anything special. They lost to Gillingham on Tuesday, they just scraped wins over struggling Shrewsbury and Fleetwood, and their 4-2 win over Oldham wasn't really much more than mediocre, so I am fully confident that we will grab a win tomorrow based on the recent form of the two sides.

Gillingham preview: High flyers visit the Proact

Tomorrow afternoon high flying Gillingham will come up to Derbyshire to face the mighty Spireites in  a League One clash which is important for both sides. So far Gillingham have exceeded everyone's expectations, hopefully we can bring them back to reality...



Gillingham currently sit in 4th place in League One, ten places above us and four points off leaders Burton. They've won six of their opening eleven games, the most noticeable of those wins being their recent 5-1 win over Fleetwood, and that 4-0 win over Sheff Utd on the opening day. They've only been beaten twice so far in the league, 2-1 by in-form Colchester, and 2-0 by Barnsley. They're the highest scoring side in the league, scoring twenty two in their first eleven, nine more than league leaders Burton. In the League Cup, they reached the second round after winning 2-1 at top League Two side Plymouth, but then coming short in the second round against Birmingham, losing 2-0. They also had a recent 2-1 win over Luton in the JPT, thanks to a late Bradley Dack close range finish. Despite their attacking flair and quality, Gillingham have similar problems to us in the defensive department. In all competitions, they have played fourteen games so far, and conceded sixteen goals.

Saunders says Novak has a 50% chance of returning for tomorrow's game, and fellow striker Harrison is out for around two more weeks with a knee problem he picked up while playing for the reserves. Super Sam Morsy is back after his suspension he picked up for getting too many yellows was completed in the week in our 2-1 JPT loss to Rochdale. Big striker Gnanduillet won't be available to play as Saunders has decided to loan him out to Stevenage for a month, for whatever reason. So it looks like either SEB or Dieseruvwe will be starting up top tomorrow, and I don't know about you, but I'd much rather see Mani up there tomorrow, based on recent performances. Ariyibi is still away with the USA Olympics side, and he won't be available for us 'til the 17th. Apart from that, there is no recent injury problems, and it looks like tomorrow's line up will be similar, If not identical to the one we saw against Crewe. Ryan Jackson, Doug Loft and Deji Oshilaja will all be out injured for Gillingham tomorrow.

Biggest Threat: Bradley Dack



The 21 year old attacking midfielder has enjoyed the best season of his life so far in the 2015/16 campaign. He has scored five from eleven League One games, playing all of those in midfield. One of those goals came in the form of an absolute screamer against Sheff Utd on the opening day back in August. He has also scored one in the League Cup, in the form of a late equaliser against Plymouth in the first round, which the Gills eventually went on to win, and he has also got one in the JPT, coming against Luton on Tuesday night. So seven goals from fourteen. Pretty good for a midfielder don't you think? Forward Ruaridhri Donnelly is also in decent form in front of goal, bagging four so far in the league, however Dack will be the main threat tomorrow, and could be the difference between the two sides.

My score prediction: Chesterfield 1-3 Gillingham

It's no secret that our defence isn't the most technically gifted even at the best of times, proven by the fact that we conceded three in the last ten minutes against Wigan, and conceded twice against Blackpool. Gillingham will be more than happy about that, as they are one of the best attacking sides in the league. After all they are the top scorers. In the last two games they have netted eight times, so they will be more than capable of getting a few against us. However, they have also conceded four times, so hopefully we'll be able to exploit that with our forward players like O'Shea, Gardner and Simons, and get a goal or two as well. Based on recent form, I just can't see us coming away from tomorrow with a point. I desperately hope the lads prove me wrong though...

Crewe Review: A hard fought, well deserved win!

First off, sorry for the late post, but i was out all day on Sunday and in all honesty i just completely forgot about it earlier today! On Saturday afternoon around 450 Spireites witnessed us finally win another game, grinding out a 2-1 win over North West side Crewe Alexandra.



We started the game off well, dominating in the midfield and looking confident on the ball and in defence. In the 8th minute we made the breakthrough, after Rai Simons put a low cross in the box, and Dieseruvwe just missed it before Dan Gardner latched on to it and slotted the ball home with a left footed finish from a tight angle on the left wing. After that we looked in control, Simons and O'Shea both looking great on the ball, O'Shea also having a chance to put us 2-0 up but narrowly missing the target. In the 36th minute, the ball was bundled around the box, and it fell to David Fox on the edge of the box, and he finished with a powerful shot through a huddle of defenders, leaving Tommy with no chance. Crewe were level, against the run of play. There was a pretty shaky last ten minutes of the first half, with Crewe growing into the game more, but we held on and went in at half time level. We came out stronger after half time, and we were back in front around sixty minutes in, after a botched cross from O'Niel fell to Gardner on the edge of the box, who smashed the ball into the ground, and on the bounce it looped into the top corner to give the winger his second goal of the afternoon. After that there was a couple of scares from Crewe, who never gave in and looked a threat from set pieces, but we managed to hold them off. O'Shea also had a good chance, but narrowly missed, and Morsy also had an effort from outside the box saved by the keeper. In the end we held on to the lead, and recorded a good 2-1 win. Close as expected.

My man of the match: Dan Gardner



The Spireites winger scored his second and third goals of the season either side of the break to give us the win on Saturday. He also looked dangerous throughout, always offering an option on the left hand side. His performances have really improved recently, he looks one of our main players at the moment, after being a fringe player most of last season, and looking a bit suspect early on this season as well. He is now our joint top scorer with Jay O'Shea and Sam Morsy, all three of the midfielders currently on three goals each this season. O'Shea and Simons were other notable performers, O'Shea looking back to his best, and Simons having a great debut, providing the assist for Garnder's first goal, and never once looking out of place.

Player ratings:

Tommy Lee: 7
Dan Jones: 7
Ian Evatt: 7
Charlie Raglan: 6
Liam O'Niel: 5
Dan Gardner: 8
Sam Morsy: 7
Chris Herd: 7
Rai Simons: 8
Mani Dieseruvwe: 7

Subs:

Sam Hird: 7
Drew Talbot: 6
Armand Gnanduillet: 5

Crewe Preview: In desperate need of a win now...

Tomorrow afternoon we travel up to Gresty Road to face North West side Crewe, who currently sit at bottom of League One. However, this doesn't guarantee us a win, as when we played Blackpool on Tuesday they were bottom and look at how that went...



Last season we had two close encounters with Crewe, drawing 0-0 in the away fixture, and winning 1-0 at home on Easter Monday (although it could of been by many more!). Crewe come into the game tomorrow on the back of a 2-1 loss to Southend on Tuesday at home. From their first ten games this season, they have won a measly six points, winning one, drawing three and losing six, scoring ten and conceding eighteen in the process. Their one win came fairly recently away at Shrewsbury, on the 19th September. Their six losses have come against Scunthorpe, Coventry, Wigan, Swindon, Millwall and Southend. They have picked up draws against high flyers Wallsall and Bury, and also against Port Vale. They were knocked out in the first round of their 2015/16 League Cup Campaign by Preston, the visitors going home with a 3-1 win. However, despite being bottom of the league and going out in the first round of the League Cup, they still go into the game on better form than us, taking four points from their last five games, compared to our one. Hard to take in isn't it?

Big lad Mani Dieseruvwe has completed his two match suspension, which he received for a sending off against Coventry, and will be available for Saunders to pick tomorrow if he wishes, however Birmingham loanee Lee Novak is still out injured, which is a big blow for our side, with Ebanks Blake's poor recent form. Saunders could choose to dip into the reserve side tomorrow, and give a few fringe players who are hungry to impress a chance. He could go for Donohue, Simons, Gnanduillet or Byron Harrison in his starting line up tomorrow, as a change of tactics and players is quite clearly needed. Crewe captain Harry Davis is out, with a knee injury forcing him off against Walsall last weekend, and Saunders' son Callum is also out for tomorrow.

Biggest Threat: Adam King



The 19 year old striker, currently on loan at Crewe from Prem side Swansea, has been a bright point in a rather sh*t season so far for the Alex. He has played every game for the side so far this season, and despite not having the best players around him, he has still managed to chip in with four goals in eleven games so far for his new side. One in the League Cup against Preston, and three in the league, against Bury, Swindon and also the winner in their only win so far this season, against Shrewsbury. The Edinburgh born striker, who stands at 5ft 11, spent his early career at Heart of Midlothian, before moving to Swansea in 2014. He then joined Crewe on loan in July and has been their star man ever since. King has also won caps for Scotland at U18, U19 and U21 levels.

My Score Prediction: Crewe 1-1 Chesterfield

Despite the negativity of many fans at the moment (which I can understand), I fail to believe we will be leaving Crewe tomorrow without at least a point. Saunders could have a job on his hands of switching the squad around and, as we have seen so far this season, when players are asked to play different roles or play with different players, it tends to force low quality football. However, if Saunders gives a go to a few youth players, who have shown that they are more than capable, then they will show the drive and hunger needed to push us over the line and get some much needed goals in the bag. Personally, I can't see a win coming tomorrow, Crewe will be just as desperate for points as we are. It would be nice though wouldn't it? A tight draw is my prediction for tomorrow.

Spireites player of the month: Dan Gardner!

In a month to forget for us Chesterfield fans, there haven't really been any players who have performed at a consistently high level. However, Dan Gardner, who previously came under lots of criticism from me and lots of other fans, has shown his talent this month and probably looked our most dangerous in several games.

Spireites News Reviews and Opinions Player of The Month: Dan Gardner

The winger had a great start to the month, scoring a fantastic goal against Wigan and probably being our best player on that day as well. The next week, he had another decent game against Colchester, looking dangerous throughout, and providing the assist for Lee Novak's first goal in a town shirt. After that, in a game with few good performances against Coventry on the 19th, he looked good for the majority of the game, even with the likes of O'Shea and Morsy looking out of sorts. A week later he put another good shift in against league leaders Burton, sending in the corner which led to Sam Hird's 2nd minute opener. And against Blackpool, well no one really did anything and I don't want to talk about that game.

So in my opinion Garnder has been our top player this month. Morsy, O'Shea and Blake have all had a quiet month, and it seems like Gardner is able to provide the goods when the top players just aren't performing.

Gardner's September match ratings:

Wigan: 8/10

Colchester: 7/10

Coventry: 7/10

Burton: 7/10

Blackpool: 5/10

Blackpool Preview: The Spireites SHOULD claim an easy three points

Tomorrow night we travel up to Bloomfield Road, to face struggling North West side Blackpool. The tangerines are currently bottom of League One due to the sh*t thrown at them by their owners, the Oystons.

The last few seasons have been very miserable for the Blackpool faithful, and this season is looking just as bleak. They are currently in 24th after coming down from the Championship, and they have only won one of their eight league games so far this season. They started off the season with a 2-2 draw against Colchester, and since then things have gone down hill to say the least. After that they lost four games on the bounce, against Rochdale, Burton, Sheff Utd and Walsall, conceding eight and scoring once  along the way. They then beat Scunthorpe 1-0 in their only win of the season. In their last three games they have lost to Gillingham and Shrewsbury and drawn against Barnsley. Among all these horrible results, they had quite an awful game in the first round of the League Cup, losing 3-0 at League 2 side Northampton. 

Saunders will be without striker Lee Novak who is still injured, but the rest of the squad, apart from Martinez, should be available for tomorrow night's league clash. Saunders should really leave Talbot out of the squad after his dyer recent performances. He could be replaced by new signing Chris Herd, or possibly even new loanee signing Jack Fitzwater. Armand Gnanduillet and Rai Simons also looked impressive on saturday against Burton, so Simons could start to replace Ariyibi who is away with the USA Olympic Side, or Saunders could start with two up front, with Gnanduillet playing alongside Blake.

Biggest Threat: David Norris

In a struggling side with few high level performances, new signing David Norris is a stand out option. The experienced midfielder, who has played for Hull, Leeds and Ipswich, signed for the tangerines on the 3rd September. Since his arrival he has played every game for Blackpool, and has probably been the most promising player. I probably would've chosen young troublemaker Nile Ranger, who has clear talent. However, the striker hasn't featured once yet for Blackpool this season, so he obviously won't be on show tomorrow night. Norris will do his best to control the midfield tomorrow night, and will be looking to put the ball through to strikers Mark Cullen and Jack Redshaw, who together have scored four of Blackpool's five goals this season.

My score prediction: Blackpool 1-3 Chesterfield

Saunders will know that we NEED a win tomorrow night, so he will almost certainly make some changes and send us out all guns blazing. Scoring hasn't been a problem for us so far, so we will no doubt be able to put a few past them tomorrow night. After poor performances in the last two games, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Jay O'Shea will be desperate to perform and get back on the score sheet. Exciting prospect Rai Simons could be given a go and he will be out to impress and give good service to the front men. Hopefully our bad run is coming to an end now, and we can get back on track.

Burton Review: What's going on!?

Yesterday the Spireites lost 2-1 to league leaders Burton Albion due to yet ANOTHER stoppage time goal at the Proact. From the last four games, we've won one point, and thrown away three leads at home. Not good enough.



We made a perfect start to the game, in the second minute Dan Gardner sent in a corner which was missed by Burton keeper Jon McLaughlin and headed home by Sam Hird. After that, as expected, we were but under pressure by the visitors. Lucas Akins had a chance to put the Brewers level in the eleventh minute, when he was sent through on goal, but he couldn't find the back of the net and just missed to the right of the goal. Gboly Ariyibi nearly put us 2-0 up after some good work on the left from Dan Gardner, but the young winger couldn't finish the cross off, heading the ball just over. Burton had few chances until the end of the first half, when a corner put us under a massive amount of pressure, but the boys put their bodies on the line, throwing themselves at several shots from the edge of the box, to keep us ahead. At the start of the second half, when most fans were still drinking their beer or eating their pies, Burton striker Stuart Beavon put them level when he pounced on a rebound and finished to the bottom left corner. Yet again, we were caught sleeping early after kick off. The rest of the second half was fast paced, aggressive and very tense for supporters of both sides. I don't usually like to blame the ref, as i know how hard a job it must be, but this guy definitely merited the 'The referee's a wank*r!' sung by our fans at the end of the game. He had an absolute shocker. We had a huge penalty shout when Jay O'Shea was blatantly tripped up in the penalty area, one of their players sat down and literally picked the ball up on the edge of the box, but only got a yellow, and Burton should of finished on three or four more yellows than they did. However, it was still a brilliant second half. Our defence was still being opened up too easily, and they nearly took the lead in the 50th minute, when Akins hit the underside of the bar, and Armand Gnanduillet was unlucky to not score, as he rose above the defence and headed down into the corner, only for Burton keeper McLaughlin to produce a brilliant save and push the ball onto the post. Then, in the 94th minute, O'Shea had the ball on the edge of the box and was clearly taken down, but my favourite ref didn't see it and Burton went through to score up the other end. Brilliant.

As always, let's look at the positives. We only lost by one goal to the league leaders, and kept with them for the majority of the game, and we also managed to score a goal and make good chances against one of the best defences in the league. However, the negatives are much more noticeable. We have been leading in our last three home games, and only managed to get one point all together. We have conceded in stoppage time three home games in a row. Other teams are opening up our defence at will pretty much every game. We have now slipped down to 15th in the league. Also, the ref can't be held responsible for the loss, we should not of been beaten so easily on the break, and we shouldn't of had so many men forward when we were drawing. Oh well, onwards and upwards. Yet another entertaining match at the Proact!

Man of the match: Sam Hird



The Doncaster born centre-back has become probably our best defender over these past two seasons. He possesses speed and mobility that Evatt doesn't, and he has the experience and physicality that Raglan lacks. Yesterday he put us ahead, and was one of the bright points in a rather shaky defencive performance. As always, he offered great service to the midfield and was solid in the air. We really missed him when we played Colchester, and it's great to see him back. Other noticeable performers were Sam Morsy and Dan Gardner. Gnanduillet also looked on form when he came on and was unlucky not to score, and Rai Simons is definitely showing lots of promise.

Player Ratings:

Tommy Lee-6
Dan Jones-6
Ian Evatt-6
Sam Hird-8
Drew Talbot-5
Sam Morsy-7
Liam O'Niel-7
Jay O'Shea-5
Gboly Ariyibi-6
Dan Gardner-7
Ebanks-Blake-5

Subsitutes:

Rai Simons-6
Armand Gnanduillet-7

Burton Preview: Chesterfield face League One leaders

Tomorrow afternoon current league leaders Burton Albion will come up to the Proact. The winner will gain local bragging rights, as we are the only two Derbyshire teams in League One. The last time the two teams met was in April 2014, when the Spireites won 2-0 away, thanks to a Jay O'Shea double, in a game which sealed promotion for us.



Burton currently sit in 1st, the highest league position in their history. After coming up from League 2 this season, they have won six, and lost two of their opening eight league games. The losses came in the form of a 1-0 defeat to Barnsley, and a 2-1 defeat to Coventry. However, they have beaten Peterborough, Swindon and Rochdale, who are all highly rated in this league. They keep a very tight defence, only conceding six goals so far. Only Rochdale and Walsall have conceded less. Over the last two games, they have beaten high flying Rochdale, and also Scunthorpe, both 1-0.

Saunders won't have Lee Novak available tomorrow, after the forward picked up a thigh injury at the Ricoh last weekend. Sam Hird, Sylan Ebanks-Blake and Liam O'Niel all made it through last Saturday's match without picking up anymore injuries, and Drew Talbot has returned from his suspension, so the RB position will be up for grabs, with him and Chris Herd both hoping to feature there. With the reserve squad being in fine form recently, Saunders has the option to play players like Simons or Donohue, who have both looked good recently. Hasselbaink will be without Burton's Darius Charles, and Zeli Ismail, who are both currently out injured.

Main threat: Stuart Beavon

The former Preston man has netted four times so far this season, with goals against Scunthorpe, Peterborough, Rochdale and Swindon. The experienced 31 year old striker has formed a great partnership with Abdenasser El Khayati under manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. He has scored in both of Burton's last two games, and has featured in all eight of Burton's league matches so far, and is fit and available, so will most likely feature tomorrow. Other players who are likely to feature, and be a pain in the arse for our defence tomorrow, are Abdenasser El Khayati, who has three goals to his name so far this season, and winger Mark Duffy, who is on loan from Championship side Birmingham City, and briefly featured on loan for us in February.

My score prediction: Chesterfield 2-1 Burton

I have a strangely good feeling about this one. Despite being top of the league, Burton have shown weaknesses, in losing to Doncaster in the JPT, and also losing 1-0 to Barnsley, who we beat 3-1. Also, they're a team punching far above their weight, and their winning run has to come to an end eventually doesn't it? I feel after a few recent poor performances, we could see a few new faces starting tomorrow, and quite possibly some new tactics being played by Saunders, in order to get back the confidence of the fans. We will have to work hard against a solid back four, and our defenders will definitely have their hands full, but I think we can do it. We need a win, got a good feeling about tomorrow. 

Coventry Review: The Spireites narrowly lose out to the sky blues

Yesterday we fell to our second loss in three games as we were beaten 1-0 by Coventry City in a below par performance. The CFC faithful took around 850 fans and made plenty of noise all game, even in the second half when things were looking bleak.



The first half started off quietly and both teams struggled to make openings. However, when the game got going Coventry seemed to be able to open up our defence at will, getting through on the counter on a number of occasions. Adam Armstrong, Jim O'Brien, Jacob Murphy and Ryan Kent all missed decent chances for the West Midlands side, while we struggled to make openings. Liam O'Niel had a half chance around 40 minutes in, but sent the ball flying just over the bar, before Dan Gardner was forced off by injury just before half time. Big striker Mani Dieseruvwe came on for Lee Novak at half time, and played in LW, an unusual position for the young striker. Coventry took the lead after 50 minutes, when Adam Armstrong was put through by Jacob Murphy, and the young striker finished across goal with a low shot into the bottom corner. After that the game went quiet, apart from a few Coventry chances, and a few bad tackles from Morsy, who was lucky to not receive a second yellow. Mani Diesruvwe and Ollie Banks both took decent long range efforts, and towards the end of the game we built the pressure but we just couldn't break down the defensive partnership of Reda Johnson and Sam Ricketts. When the game looked finished, some salt was rubbed in to our wounds when Mani Dieseruvwe received a second booking for a deliberate hand ball, in the 89th minute.

Not a great day for the blues, defence looked suspect and we lacked the attacking play we can usually boast. However, it was only a 1-0 defeat to one of the biggest and best teams in the league, and we're still around the play off places, so people don't need to get downhearted just yet. Onwards and upwards, COYB.

My man of the match: Tommy Lee



Yet again I have chosen the long serving Spireites keeper as my man of the match. In a game where there weren't really any good performance, with even the likes of the usually consistently brilliant Dan Jones, Sam Morsy and Jay O'Shea all having bad games, Tommy Lee is a player who we can say played well. He had plenty to do yesterday, had plenty of crosses to deal with, and yet again had very little protection from the back four. He made a few decent saves and kept the score line low. He definitely didn't have an exceptional game by his standards, but he played better than anyone I can think of. A tough game to choose a MOTM from this week.

League Table after this weekend's results:

(+2) 1. Burton (4GD) (18 pts)
(=) 2. Walsall (9GD) (17pts)

(-2) 3. Gillingham (8GD) (17pts)                                       Most places moved up: Colchester have 
(=) 4. Coventry (7 GD) (16 pts)                                          moved up 9 places after beating Sheff Utd
(+1) 5. Rochdale (6 GD) (14 pts)                                       3-2 on Tuesday, and Gillingham 2-1
(+3) 6. Bury (3 GD) (13 pts)                                               yesterday.

(-2) 7. Sheff Utd (1GD) (13 pts)
(+2) 8. Wigan (1GD) (13 pts)
(-2) 9. Chesterfield (1 GD) (11 pts)                                    Most places moved down: Port Vale have
(-2) 10. Swindon (0 GD) (11 pts)                                       moved down 4 places after losing 1-0 to
(=) 11. Barnsley (-1 GD) (11 pts)                                       Bury.
(+2) 12. Bradford (-2GD) (10pts)
(+9) 13. Colchester (-3GD) (10pts)
(+4) 14. Millwall (-4GD) (10pts)
(-2) 15. Fleetwood (1GD) (9 pts)
(-4) 16. Port Vale (0 GD) (9 pts)
(+3) 17. Southend (-1 GD) (9pts)
(-1) 18. Peterborough (-1 GD) (8 pts)
(-4) 19. Shrewsbury (-2 GD) ( 8pts)
(-4) 20. Scunthorpe (-3 GD) (8pts)

(-2) 21. Oldham (-4 GD) (8pts)
(-1) 22. Doncaster (-4 GD) (7 pts)
(+1) 23. Crewe (-7 GD) (5 pts)
(-1) 24. Blackpool (-9 GD) (5 pts)

League One top scorers:

1. Adam Armstrong-Coventry (6 goals)
2. Bradley Dack-Gillingham (5 goals)
3. Billy Sharp-Sheff Utd (5 goals)
4. Tom Bradshaw-Walsall (4 goals)
5. Paddy Madden-Scunthorpe (4 goals)
6. Stuart Beavon-Burton (4 goals)
7. Romaine Sawyers-Walsall (4 goals)
8. Marcus Maddison-Peterborough (4 goals)
9. George Moncur-Colchester (4 goals)
10. Jay O'Shea-Chesterfield (3 goals)

Coventry Preview: Possibly our Toughest Game Yet

Tomorrow the Spireites will travel down to Coventry to play Coventry City in a game which is probably our toughest test so far this season. With both teams featuring in and around the play off places, this should be interesting!



Coventry have made a very good start to their 2015/16 League One campaign. They currently sit in 4th place, three places above us, and have previously featured in the top spot down to some brilliant performances in the earlier stages of the season. They were top of the League after three games, in which they beat Wigan 2-0 at home, Millwall 4-0 at Millwall, then beat Crewe 3-2 at home, five of these nine goals coming from talented young striker Adam Armstrong. They then lost 2-1 at fellow West Midlands team, and current second place team, Walsall. Since then their form hasn't been quite as good, drawing 2-2 to Southend at home, winning 2-1 away at Burton but then losing 1-0 at Scunthorpe last weekend. However, their League Cup run ended early, losing on penalties to Rochdale in the first round after drawing 1-1 in normal time.

Tomorrow Saunders will be without first choice RB Drew Talbot who is suspended for one game, due to a very suspect sending off in last weekend's clash with Colchester. Novak finally managed to play a game without getting the sh*t kicked out of him last weekend, so he will be fully fit tomorrow, and Saunders is positive that Ebanks-Blake, Hird and O'Niel will all be back for tomorrow's match. New boy Chris Herd is fit and eligible to play, so he is likely to feature alongside Morsy in midfield, instead of Ollie Banks. Apart from Martinez, everyone is available to play tomorrow afternoon. The only Coventry absentees are Jordan Willis and James Maddison, with new signing Adam Jackson available, and Jim O'Brien returning from Illness which saw him absent last weekend.

Biggest Threat: Adam Armstrong



The 18 year old striker who is currently on loan from Newcastle, has proven to be a great signing for the Sky Blues this season. He is currently joint top scorer in the league, equal with Gillingham's Bradley Dack on 5 goals. Despite not scoring a goal in the last four games, Armstrong is still starting for City, and his quality is still obvious. He hasn't only scored lots of goals, he has scored some absolute belters. He scored twice against Millwall last month, one goal coming from around 35 yards out, and the other goal a classy chip. With the quality of Marcus Tudgay to help him out up front, Armstrong is a very tricky customer, and could be very annoying for Evatt to play against, because, let's face it, Evatt's strong point is not changing direction or running fast.

Score Prediction: Coventry City 3-2 Chesterfield

I can see another goal filled game coming our way, and I think with the quality Coventry possess going forward, they could be the side leaving with more goals. They are currently unbeaten at the Ricoh, winning two and losing one of the games they have played. In the recent weeks we have proven we have lots of goal scorers, Jay O'Shea, Dan Gardner, Sam Morsy, Lee Novak and even Dan Jones all getting on the score sheet in the last three games. However, with the two quality centre backs that Coventry have, Reda Johnson and Sam Ricketts, I don't think goals will come as freely as last weekend. Also, it doesn't take a genius to work out that our defence is a weak point, conceding six goals in the last two games, four of those coming in the last ten minutes, and Coventry will be out to prove a point after a disappointing loss to Scunthorpe last weekend. Hopefully the boys can prove me wrong, and prove dark blue is the best shade of blue.

Colchester Review: Another pulsating game at the Proact

Yesterday afternoon saw the Spireites draw 3-3 at home to a struggling Colchester side. The game saw goals, shocking refereeing decisions and a sending off, so it was yet another eventful saturday afteroon at the Proact.



The game didn't start off too well for the Spireites, as Drew Talbot recieved a very suspect red card 16 minutes into the game. Colchester striker Marvin Sordell was put through by a team mate, and was then seen to be shoved over by Talbot, preventing him from going one on one with Tommy Lee. However, if you review the footage, it looks like Sordell is offside, and you can also clearly see there was no contact made, so in fact Sordell either dived or tripped up. A poor decision from the officials. However, five minutes later young substitute Jack Fitzwater, who recently arrived on a month long loan from West Brom, won a free kick on the right wing. Left Back Dan Jones delivered, and the ball somehow ended up in the back of the net, it looked like it got a nick on the way through, so whether it was an Ian Evatt header or Dan Jones free kick that drew us level, i can't say. However, BBC Football puts it down as Jones' goal, so it has to go to him. The lead didn't last long however, as pacy forward Gavin Massey equalised in the 28th minute with a fine striker, after a low hard cross from Callum Harriott wasn't dealt with properly by the defence. The game went in at half time at 1-1 after a very open, attacking first half. At the start of the second half, we were very much under the cosh, probably because we only had ten men. However, we proved our solidity by going in front again in the 62nd minute, when Lee Novak scored his first goal for Town with a close range shot, putting us 2-1 up. The next ten minutes were all about Colchester, and Tommy had to make some good saves to keep out efforts from Sordell and Harriot. However, once again we scored against the run of play, this time through a Sam Morsy 74th minute goal, pushing his tally up to three this season. By then the effects of having ten men on the pitch, a 17 year old debutant in RB, and spending the majority of the game with our backs to the wall were starting to show, and just two minutes after us scoring, Colchester clawed a goal back to reduce the deficit to one goal. Midfielder George Moncur the scorer this time, with a good finish from inside the box, into the right hand corner. In the last fifteen minutes, Jones and Banks were both booked, and Harrison and Donohue came on to replace Novak and Gardner, and Harrison had the chance to put us 4-2 up, but apart from that things appeared to have calmed down. Then once again our defensive frailties showed, when we conceded in the 92nd minute to a Charlie Raglan own goal. The young defender can't be blamed however, as the ball was bundled round the box, their player then hit the bar and when the ball was crossed back into the box it hit Raglan two yards out and there was nowt he could do about it. Wrong place, wrong time, that's all you can say about it.

So for the second time in the last two weeks there has been five or more goals at the Proact. Another performance where we've seen lots of weaknesses (the defence). However, we've also seen lots of strengths and positives, in our midfield and ability to score goals even in tough circumstances. Today we should've won, no doubt about it, but to be ten men down for 75 minutes, with a weakened squad, against a team with a good strike force who are desperate to get a win under their belts is never easy, and credit must be given to the lads for giving their absolute all in another entertaining match. Despite throwing two points away, a point was still good to take away from yesterday's game. At least we're not boring!

 My Man of the Match: Tommy Lee



This may seem an odd choice seeing as we conceded three goals, but when you think about the fact that he had to put up with top class forwards all day, and a total of ten Colchester shots on target, with little defensive protection, you might be more convinced by my decision. Tommy has been our saviour on more occasions than i can even begin to remember, and yesterday could have been a different result if it weren't for the fans' favourite's performance. In the second half he was under constant pressure from Massey and Sordell, and managed to make a total of eight saves. The last goal was an OG, so he can't possibly be to blame. Just like Morsy, he has been key in pretty much all of our games this season, and will be for the rest of the season.

League Table after yesterday's results:

(=) 1. Gilligham (9GD) (17 pts)
(+1) 2. Walsall (9GD) (16pts)

(+2) 3. Burton (3GD) (15pts)                                          Most places moved up: Barnsley have moved
(-2) 4. Coventry (6GD) (13pts)                                       up 3 places after beating Swindon 4-1
(-1) 5. Sheff Utd (2GD) (12pts)                                      yesterday.
(=) 6. Rochdale (5GD) (11pts)

(+1) 7. Chesterfield (2GD) (11pts)
(-1) 8. Swindon (1GD) (11pts)
(+3) 9. Bury (2GD) (10pts)                                             Most places moved down: Oldham have
(-1) 10. Wigan (0GD) (10pts)                                         moved down 6 places after losing 5-1 to
(+3) 11. Barnsley (-1GD) (10pts)                                   Peterborough yesterday.
(+3) 12. Port Vale (3GD) (9pts)
(-3) 13. Fleetwood (2GD) (9pts)
(-3) 14. Bradford (-2GD) (9pts)
(+3) 15. Shrewsbury (-1GD) (8pts)
(+3) 16. Scunthorpe (-2GD) (8pts)
(+3) 17. Peterborough (-1GD) (7pts)
(+3) 18. Millwall (-4GD) (7pts)
(-6) 19. Oldham (-4GD) (7pts)
(-4) 20. Southend (-3GD) (6pts)

(-4) 21. Doncaster (-4GD) (6pts)
(+1) 22. Colchester (-5GD) (4pts)
(-1) 23. Blackpool (-9GD) (4pts)
(=) 24. Crewe (-8GD) (2pts)

League One top scorers:

1. Adam Armstrong-Coventry  (5 goals)
2. Bradley Dack-Gillingham (5 goals)
3. Marcus Maddison-Peterborough (4 goals)
4. Paddy Madden-Scunthorpe (4 goals)
5. Tom Bradshaw-Walsall (4 goals)
6. Leon Clarke-Bury (3 goals)
7. Nathan Byrne-Swindon (3 goals)
8. Jay O'Shea-Chesterfield (3 goals)
9. Abdenasser El Khayati-Burton (3 goals)
10. Billy Sharp-Sheff Utd (3 goals)

Colchester Preview: Can the Spireites bounce back?

Colchester, currently second bottom, will come up to the Proact this weekend to face us in our seventh League game of the season. The Spireites will be hoping for a good win against a struggling team this weekend, after dropping three points against Wigan last Saturday in horrible fashion.

Colchester have had a pretty miserable start to the season so far, sitting in 23rd place after losing three and drawing two of their opening five games. Their most miserable game coming away at Fleetwood, where they were thrashed 4-0, former Spireite Jimmy Ryan being amongst the scorers for Fleetwood. They have also had no success in the cups, they lost 1-0 to Championship side Reading in the first round of the Capital One Cup, after a Marcus Maddison brace sunk them, and they also lost 3-2 in the JPT to League Two side Northampton. So they have had no wins in their first seven games, hopefully we can send them home this weekend still looking for a win.

Saunders has a bit of a job on his hands in picking tomorrow's line up, with Angel Martinez being a certain no no, and Hird, Ebanks-Blake, Talbot and O'Niel all looking doubtful too. This could cause a bit of a squad rotation, with players such as Charlie Raglan or Armand Gnanduillet starting, despite not being in Saunders' favoured starting eleven. However, Rai Simons, Dion Donohue and Byron Harrison were all impressive in the reserve teams' 3-2 win over Doncaster earlier in the week. This means Dion could partner Morsy in midfield over Banks, and Harrison could possibly partner Novak up front, or even play as a solo striker. Colchester boss Tony Humes could choose to play new signing Marvin Sordell who recently came in on a free transfer, and also has experience playing for teams in the top two leagues, such as Burnley, who he played for four times at the start of this season before being released.

Biggest Threat: Macauley Bonne



At just 18 years old, Bonne lacks the experience of a top striker, however he has the talent and exciting style to make up for that. He is Colchester's top scorer so far this season, scoring three goals. Two of his three goals came against Northampton in the JPT, while the other came in their 2-1 League loss to Peterborough. He has featured in all seven of United's games so far this season, starting in six of them. He also enjoyed a reasonably successful pre-season campaign, scoring four goals for his side. He will definitely be one for Evatt and Hird (or possibly Raglan) to keep an eye on, and could be Colchester's only hope of leaving Derbyshire tomorrow with any points. Colchester also have a top class centre-back in the Cameroonian George Elokobi, who spent last season at Oldham Athletic.

My Score Prediction: Chesterfield 3-1 Colchester

I think after a very tough opening to the season, tomorrow will be the comfortable game we have all been waiting for. Colchester have looked very, very weak so far this season and we certainly have the quality in our side to exploit that. With Colchester having signed the CB Elokobi, I don't think we will reach the dizzying heights of that 6-0 win over them last season, plus the possibilities of us having four or five absentees tomorrow could cause us a problem or two, but I think we should still be looking at a solid performance, and a win by two or possibly more goals.

August player of the month: Sam Morsy

Despite there being one more game this month (Millwall away on Saturday) I have decided to decide my player of the month early, and this is because if I don't do it now, then by the time I get back from France, it will probably be too late to do it.



Spireites captain Sam Morsy has had a very, very good opening month to the season. He has put in solid performances in wins over Barnsley and Shrewsbury, and in the Sheff Utd game he looked like one of our few good performers. He also won sponsors Man of the match in the 0-0 draw against Rochdale at the weekend. Every game he has been a rock in the holding midfield position, proving his worth to the team by putting in a good shift every game, protecting the back four and also starting attacks with his brilliant passing. The Spireites captain is probably our most consistent player, and will be vital for us if we are to do well this season. Despite playing as a defensive midfielder, he has scored two goals in four league games so far this season, one coming against Barnsley on the opening day of the season, and the other coming against Shrewsbury last Tuesday.




However, Morsy's Chesterifeld future is under some pretty serious doubt. We have rejected two bids from MK Dons, while it is rumoured that Championship sides Cardiff, Leeds and Burnley are all interested in getting the 23 year olds signature. To make matters worse, he is still yet to sign a new contract for the club, but hopefully we can give him the right offer, and make him stay. There is only six days left in this transfer window, so hopefully no bids come in that force us to part with the player. But, while all this has been going on, he has still shown his love for the club in recent weeks. Not only by putting in 100% effort every game, but also by the way he celebrates. In the Barnsley game he ran all the way over to Saunders to celebrate, and then in the Shrewsbury game he showed a very passionate celebration, then went over and blew a kiss to the fans (above picture). So hopefully we can hold on to the young talented player.

Morsy match ratings in August 2015:

Barnsley at home (August 8th) 9/10
Carlsile away (August 11th) 6/10
Sheff Utd away (August 15th) 7/10
Shrewsbury away (August 18th) 8/10
Rochdale home (August 22nd) 7/10

Holiday coming up so this could be my last post for two weeks.

Hi guys, just letting you know that tomorrow morning I go to France, and won't be back until Monday September 7th. And I won't have any internet connection while in France so there will be no preview or review for the Millwall or Wigan matches.

Also, unless something happens later today, this will be my last post for almost two weeks. Sorry about this, and i hope you have a good last two weeks of your six week holidays!

Another great signing: Welcome Liam O'Niel!

We have made our fourth top class signing of the summer, this time in the form of West Brom young midfielder George O'Niel. He was signed this morning for an undisclosed fee, and his contract is an undisclosed length.



Fact file:

Age: 22
Nationality: English
Position: Midfielder/Defender
Clubs played for: West Brom, Scunthorpe, VPS

Liam O'Niel has been tracked by the club for around two and a half years, with the club hoping to bring him in on loan, but we have now gone one better by permanantly signing the player. Saunders said 'Liam is a young player who has played in West Brom's first team. He's exactly what we want - a midfield player who can also play at the back, if required.' The veratile 22 year old was also happy about the move. He said ' I want to get some experience and develop as a player and I think I’ll be able to do that here. I’m looking forward to it and I’m excited. The gaffer got in touch with West Brom and has shown good interest. He’s been on my case to get down here all the time and that’s what I like. He sees me as part of his plans and that’s what I want. I want to be getting regular football and that’s key for me now. I’m 22 now and this is perfect timing.'

O'Niel was born in Cambridge, and spent most of his youth career at local non league side Histon F.C, who are currently in the Southern Football League Premier Division. He then moved to the West Brom youth system, and signed his first professional contract in may 2012, at the age of 18. In the 2013/14 season, he made three appearances, against Swansea, Stoke and Norwich. In the summer of 2012, before he made an appearance for West Brom, O'Niel was sent out on loan to Finnish side VPS. He made 18 appearances for the club, scoring one goal in his time there. In late November last season he went on loan to League One side Scunthorpe United, then after making a positive impact at the club, his loan spell was extended until January 2015, then extended again until the end of last season. However, he was sent back to West Brom early, due to an injury.

Liam O'Niel offers new options for Saunders in the central midfield positions, and he can also play as a defender. This means that he will be a good CB back up, along with young defender Charlie Raglan. Saunders may also be planning to play him as a RB, after Drew Talbot's below par recent performances. Along with the signings of Lee Novak, Ebanks-Blake and Angel Martinez, Liam O'Niel has added that extra bit of quality to the squad, and also gives us better in depth strength. Last season while at Scunthorpe, O'Niel spent most of the time as a defensive midfielder, however he was also played in a more attacking role, as a No.10 a few times.

Chesterfield 0-0 Rochdale: Match Review

Yesterday saw the Spireites play out a fairly dull 0-0 draw with Rochdale. It was probably one of the most lack lustre performances we have seen from the team in these past two seasons. However,  positives to take from the game, are that we didn't lose, and we kept our first clean sheet of the season so far!

Spireites striker Lee Novak

 

 

The first half was a half of few chances, which is surprising considering the quality of the two sides' attacking play. The Spireites could of been 1-0 down in the first half if it weren't for a brilliant save from Tommy Lee with his feet, and then we probably should of gone 1-0 up at the end of the first half, when Lee Novak found Ebanks-Blake with a cross, and the striker headed the ball towards the goal from six yards, but Rochdale keeper, Josh Lillis, produced a brilliant save to keep it at 0-0. Should of scored though really. The second half was played in similar fashion to the first. Rochdale striker Calvin Andrew proved too much for the defence to handle, however no real opportunities were created, until late on, when Donal McDermott sent in a dangerous looking free kick, and Tommy Lee again came to our rescue with another great save. Substitute Gboly Ariyibi brought a bit of life back into the game towards the dying stages, on a few occasions getting to the by line and looking to put in  a cross, however when the crosses went in, there was no one on the end of them. In the last minute, Ariyibi did brilliantly well do get past two defenders, however when he went for the cut back, which several players were queuing up for, he only managed to find the side netting. If he had managed to get it into the box, we may of won the game.  

 

All in all not the best performance from the player, but nothing to worry about this early on. We were up against a team who are likely to finish towards the top end of the table this season, so we did well to get a draw and keep our fist clean sheet of the season. However, if it wasn't for the keepers, there would of been goals yesterday. Lillis' save to deny Blake in the first half was a Premier League quality save without doubt, and Tommy Lee also kept us in the game on more than one occasion. Plenty for Saunders to work with, and a new signing that is rumoured to take place on Monday or Tuesday, could well see the squad completed and possibly ready to battle for another play-off place.

 

My Man of the Match: Tommy Lee

 

 

Spireites keeper Tommy Lee







 

Tommy Lee is one of the most loved players at the club, and it is obvious why when you see performances like the one he made yesterday. He has been with us for years now, and his great reflexes and spectacular dives have made him a definite fan's favourite in the past few seasons. And yesterday, in a game where, let's be honest, there were few Chesterfield performances to shout about, Tommy Lee still proved his worth to our side. He made a great save with his feet in the first half, and made an acrobatic save to prevent Rochdale taking the lead late on from a free kick. He kept us in the game, and if it weren't for him, we could of conceded two or three goals, so for me he has to be our Man of the Match, despite Sam Morsy being voted as official Man of the Match by the sponsors. Their keeper, Josh Lillis, also put in a solid performance.

 

 

League Table after yesterday's results:

 

 

(+1) 1. Gillingham (7GD) (10pts)

(+1) 2. Walsall (4GD) (10pts)

 

(-2)  3. Coventry (6GD) (9pts)                                   Most places moved up: Wigan moved up 8

(+4) 4. Sheff Utd (2GD) (9pts)                                  places after beating Scunthorpe 3-0 on

(+1) 5. Burton (2GD) (9pts)                                       Tuesday, then losing 2-0 to Gillingham

(+3) 6. Swindon (4GD) (8pts)                                    yesterday.

 

(+4) 7. Fleetwood (4GD) (7pts)

(-4)  8. Rochdale (3GD) (7pts)

(-4)  9. Chesterfield (1GD) (7pts)                              Most places moved down: Colchester have

(-3)  10. Barnsley (0GD) (7pts)                                 moved down five places after losing 4-0 to

(+2) 11. Port Vale (3GD) (6pts)                                Fleetwood yesterday.

(-2)  12. Oldham (1GD) (6pts)

(+8) 13. Wigan (-1GD) (4pts)

(-2)  14. Scunthorpe (-2) (4pts)

(=)   15. Millwall (-4GD) (4pts)

(+1) 16. Bury (-1GD) (3pts)

(-1)  17. Doncaster (-3GD) (3pts)

(-4)  18. Peterborough (-4GD) (3pts)

(=)   19. Shrewsbury (-2GD) (2pts)

(+3) 20. Crewe (-3GD) (2pts)

 

(-1)  21. Southend (-3GD) (2pts)

(+2) 22. Bradford (-4GD) (2pts)

(-5)  23. Colchester (-5GD) (2pts)

(-2)  24. Blackpool (-5GD) (1pts)

 

League One top scorers:

 

1. Adam Armstrong-Coventry (5 goals)
2. Bradley Dack-Gillingham (4 goals)
3. Marcus Maddison-Peterborough (3 goals)
4. Nathan Byrne-Swindon (3 goals)
5. Abdenasser El Khayati-Burton (3 goals)
6. Fabien Robert-Swindon (3 goals)
7. Che Adams-Sheff Utd (2 goals)
8. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake-Chesterfield (2 goals)
9. Leon Clarke-Bury (2 goals)
10. Paddy Madden-Scunthorpe (2 goals)

 

 





Rochdale Preview: Can the Spireites make it two in a row, and two home wins from two?

Tomorrow afternoon Rochdale will come down to the Proact to take on the mighty Spireites in each team's fourth game of the League One Season. Rochdale currently sit in fourth place, while we are in fifth.



The North West side started the season in good form, beating a strong Peterborough side 2-0 at home on the opening day, with goals from Callum Camps and Ruben Noble-Lazarus. They then went on to play Coventry, who have won three games out of three in the League so far, in the Capital One Cup, and after a late Coventry equaliser from Marcus Tudgay, they beat the midlands side 5-3 on penalties after a goalless thirty minutes of extra time. In their second League game, they played away at Blackpool, who are currently in a small crisis, and came away with  a comfortable 2-0 win after goals from Donal McDermott and Ian Henderson. In their latest League game, against Walsall on Tuesday, they lost 2-1 to the visitors, with Calvin Andrew scoring their only goal.

Saunders has a full squad to choose from for tomorrow afternoon's game, and after a dominating performance against Shrewsbury on Tuesday, he is more than likely to play the same squad. New signing Angel Martinez will probably feature again, after impressing in mid week. He was solid in the midfield, and also allowed Morsy to venture forward and go for goal more often. In an interview with Spireites Player, Morsy said 'I want to get in the box to try and score goals'. Rochdale Manager Keith Hill also has a strong squad to choose from, with key players Ian Henderson, Peter Vincenti and Callum Camps all available.

Biggest Threat: Ian Hernderson

 

Ian Henderson can play either up front or out on the wing, he can score and he can assist goals as  well. He scored 22 goals last season for Rochdale, came second in the League One goal scorer tally, and also won a place in the League One team of the season. So far this season he has started in all four of Rochdale's games, scoring one goal and also assisting two goals. He also scored three goals for the League One side in pre-season, one coming against Chester, and then two coming in a 2-1 win over Blackburn. The 30 year old forward has also played for Norwich, Rotherham and Colchester in his career. He made a few appearances at England U18, and England U20 level as well.
He is a tricky and skilful player who is sure to cause us problems. If he doesn't score, he will almost certainly create a fair few chances for his side.

Predicted Score: Chesterfield 2-2 Rochdale

Today's game will be another tough test for the team, in an extremely tough opening month. Tuesday's performance was our best this season, and we should of really had at least three or four goals, and we proved that we can defend properly! The team should be full of confidence, and new signing's Lee Novak and Angel Martinez have settled well in next to no time, and they have both added that little bit of quality to the squad. However, Rochdale know what they're doing, and after losing to Walsall this week, they will be fired up to get back into winning form while they are still in a promising League position. Expect a fast paced, quality and very open game tomorrow afternoon. Should be tight! 2-2 I think, Blake and Novak with the goals.

Shrewsbury 1-2 Chesterfield: Match Review

Earlier today the Spireites travelled down to Shrewsbury for our third League One game, against Shrewsbury Town. We came away with a solid 2-1 win after a great performance.

 

 

 





Second half goals from striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (above), and midfielder Sam Morsy , before a consolation goal from Mat Sadler, sealed a second win in three League One games in front of 344 travelling supporters for town tonight.

 

Tommy Lee started in goal tonight, with the standard Talbot, Evatt, Hird and Jones defence, with Gardner and O'Shea in the wide midfield positions, newboy Angel Martinez partnering Morsy in the middle, and Novak and Ebanks-Blake up top. After a quiet opening to the game, we slowly started getting into the game around thirty minutes in, when Jay O'Shea had a chance in the box, which he sliced wide to the right. Novak and Gardner also both missed chances before half time. Less than five minutes into the second half, in the 49th minute, Jay O'Shea found Ebanks-Blake, in the box, who put away a left footed finish across the keeper into the bottom left corner. In the 60th minute, Dan Gardner, who regularly comes under criticism, was unlucky to not put the team two goals in front, when his shot from the centre of the box cannoned off the bar. However, that was quickly forgotten, when in the 64th minute new striker Lee Novak played the ball to Sam Morsy, who slotted the ball into the bottom right corner, for his second goal of the season so far. Not bad for a midfielder. After that, Shrewsbury striker Tyrone Barnett missed two chances, and other Shrewsbury players also had chances to score that went to waste. Sam Morsy and Jay O'Shea also missed chances, before Armand Gnanduillet somehow managed to hit the post from inside the six yard box in the 87th minute, three minutes after coming on for winger Dan Gardner. Then out of nothing, in the 88th minute Shrewsbury had a goal back. Mat Sadler picked the ball up thirty odd yards from goal and decided to have a pop...and what a pop it was, with the ball sailing into the net. That caused a cagy end to the game, but the defence was solid and held a tight line to keep the opposition out and seal a good away win.

 

Overall a brilliant performance from the players. On another night it could have been four or five. Gnanduillet and Gardner both hitting the woodwork, and the players destroying the Shrewsbury team on the break. Definately a good base to build on before playing Rochdale at the proact on Saturday afternoon. Debutant Angel Martinez seemed to fit in really well in midfield, and never looked to have any debut nerves, and Lee Novak also looks to feel at home now, as he was alone up front for over twenty minutes, after Saunders brought on Ariyibi to replace Ebanks-Blake. He provided the assist for Morsy's goal, and could have also had a goal himself, after being put through by Morsy, before being harshly judged offside by the linesman. The defence also seemed to work much better as a unit tonight, and maybe they've shaked those problems that were there on Saturday against Sheff Utd.

 

Man of the Match: Sam Morsy

 

 

Sam Morsy is slowly becoming every fan's favourite player. Him and O'Shea are the only two players that remain from the amazing midfield of the 2014/15 season, and he gives his all every single game. Not to mention he is absolute quality. The young midfielder had another great game tonight, scoring what turned out to be our winning goal, and also bossing the midfield. He prevented Shrewsbury from causing us any real problems, and he started off most of our attacks. He also nearly provided an assist for Lee Novak towards the end of the game, but the forward was judged to be offside. Morsy could well be our key player this season, even with players like Blake and O'Shea in the squad, he always looks head and shoulders above everyone else. If we're to do well this season, Morsy MUST stay with us. He could well be a CFC legend in the making.

 

League One Table after tonight's games:

 

(=) 1. Coventry (7GD) (9pts)

(+1) 2. Gillingham (5GD) (7pts)

 

(+2) 3. Walsall (3GD) (7pts)                                           Most places moved up:

(-2) 4. Rochdale (3GD) (6pts)                                         Fleetwood have moved up 8 places after their

(+3) 5. Chesterfield (1GD) (6pts)                                    4-3 win at Bury tonight.

(+3) 6. Burton (1GD) (6pts)

 

(+3) 7. Barnsley (0GD) (6pts)

(+4) 8. Sheff Utd (0GD) (6pts)

(-5) 9. Swindon (3GD) (5pts)                                          Most places moved down:

(-4) 10. Oldham (1GD) (5pts)                                         Swindon have moved down 5 places after     

(+8) 11. Fleetwood (0GD) (4pts)                                    their 2-2 draw with Port Vale

(-5) 12. Scunthorpe* (1 GD) (3pts)

(+3) 13. Port Vale (0GD) (3pts)

(-3) 14. Peterborough (-3GD) (3pts)

(-2) 15. Millwall (-4GD) (3pts)

(-1) 16. Doncaster* (0GD) (2pts)

(-3) 17. Bury (-1GD) (2pts)

(-1) 18. Colchester (-1GD) (2pts)

(-1) 19. Shrewsbury (-2GD) (1pt)

(+1) 20. Southend* (-2GD) (1pt)

 

(+2) 21. Wigan* (-2GD) (1pt)

(-2) 22. Blackpool (-3GD) (1pt)

(-1) 23. Crewe (-3GD) (1pt)

(=) 24. Bradford (-4GD) (1pt)

 

*Teams that have a game in hand over everyone else

 

League One top scorers:

 

1. Adam Armstrong-Coventry (5 goals)
2. Nathan Byrne-Swindon (3 goals)
3. Che Adams-Sheff Utd (2 goals)
4. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake-Chesterfield (2 goals)
5. Paddy Madden-Scunthorpe (2 goals)
6. Abdenasser El Khayati-Burton (2 goals)
7. Bradley Dack-Gillingham (2 goals)
8. Leon Clarke-Bury (2 goals)
9. Sam Mantom-Walsall (2 goals)
10. Sam Morsy-Chesterfield (2 goals)