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.