Anxious wait on Novak's fitness will go to the wire

The final home game of the season will see the Spireites safe, if they win, but there’s a big doubt over their top scorer Novak.

He went down with an injury last Saturday against Swindon and although a scan hasn’t given a clear diagnosis, Wilson is still unsure about the striker’s availability.

“The jury is still out until the weekend,” he said.

“We’ll let him go until the last throes of the preparation, possibly Saturday morning and we’ll see from there.

“It’s a strain on his knee. He’s been for a scan but it didn’t show much, but obviously that doesn’t take the pain away.

“He’s not trained at all so he’s had a chance to rest up physically and mentally, and if he does make it that would be a big bonus.”

Wilson admits the frontman’s absence would be a blow for Chesterfield.

“Of course he’ll be a miss, he’s been very consistent for us this year,” said the boss.

“Take away his goals, he’s been terrific in terms of team ethic, his work ethic has been fantastic.

“We will miss him if he’s not available.

“You can’t worry too much about it, we’ve got to move on and make sure we can find an adequate replacement within the team.”

Should Novak miss out, he’ll join Liam O’Neil on the sidelines, but there’s a glimmer of hope for Wilson and his defensive ranks.

The hope is that Dion Donohue, who sat out last weekend with a groin issue, will return to training tomorrow with a view to involvement against Bury.

And a man who is likely to feature is Dan Gardner, who recently had a loan spell with the Shakers and may well hold some insightful knowledge on Saturday’s visitors.

Wilson said: “Dion is hopefully going to train tomorrow, which would be a big bonus.

“Dan will play a key role, I’m sure he will.

“Even before he went away we said he needed to go and get games and minutes so he could help us when he came back.

“This is the time now, we’re hoping he’s fresh and hungry and ready to go, and he’ll know a thing or two about the players he’s playing about.”