Chesterfield knocked out of League Cup by Sheffield Wednesday

The Spireites had failed to win in the competition since beating Wolves on penalties way back in 2006.

And that sour stat still remains after a 4-1 thrashing at Championship side Sheffield Wednesday last night.

A shock looked like it could be on the cards after Kristian Dennis’ first-half penalty put the Spireites in front.

However, going behind only got the bit between the teeth of the Owls as former Premier League quartet Gary Hooper, Steven Fletcher, Barry Bannan and Sam Hutchinson wrapped the game up.

Both sides made a handful of changes from the line-ups that kicked off the league season last week.

Despite going ahead Chesterfield looked like a team two leagues below the Championship club as the Owls dominated.

Joe Anyon was kept busy in the visitors’ net as he made two athletic stops to keep out Scottish international Fletcher early on.

The Spireites were firmly kept on the back foot, with the hosts wasteful in the final third.

Against the run of play Caldwell’s men were gifted a penalty as Daniel Pudil handled inside the area, with Dennis hitting his spot kick straight down the middle to give the visitors a sniff.

Parity was restored just five minutes later though as Hooper superbly slotted home from a tight angle.

And the Owls went ahead in first-half stoppage time after Fletcher nodded home Jack Hunt’s pinpoint cross.

The second half was even worse for the Spireites as the hosts ran away with the tie.

Caldwell’s outfit had a couple of decent chances, but the Owls showed their class to get the job done.

Ex-Wednesday man Chris O’Grady almost came back to haunt his former club as he crashed an effort into the side netting, before goalscorer Dennis was well denied.

Bannan capped a fine performance with a wonder strike after bullying his way through a couple of challenges.

Late on Hutchinson made it four to end a sorry evening for the League Two team.

Sheffield Wednesday: Wildsmith, Hunt (Hutchinson, 59), Lees, Pudil, Reach, Wallace, Bannan, Abdi (Winnall, 69), Jones, Fletcher (Matias, 76), Hooper.

Subs: Dawson, Baker, Nuhiu, Forestieri.

Chesterfield: Anyon, Hird, Wiseman, Maguire, Donohue, Barry, McCourt, Reed, Ugwu (German, 80), Dennis (Brewster, 69), O’Grady.

Subs: Lee, McGinn, Wakefield, Weir, Mitchell, Brewster, German.

Referee: Ross Joyce (Cleveland)