New boss Lester left frustrated after Spireites lose out

The new Spireites gaffer was delighted with the reception he received before the game, but not so much with the display the team gave the fans.

He called into question his side’s energy, particularly after the visitors’ first goal, but yet again reiterated it will take time - months even - to get where he wants to be.

Addressing the welcome he had before kick-off, the club legend said: “It was lovely. I can never thank these fans enough for the way they support me.

“That wasn’t the performance I wanted the team to give them, we wanted to give them. But we will do eventually.”

Cheltenham’s opening goal proved costly in the rookie manager’s eyes.

“It was a little lethargic for what we want.

“ think when you’re down the bottom the first goal is key. The energy levels dropped when we conceded the first goal.

“I’ve been in dressing rooms near the bottom as a player and I recognised what could happen.

“We were hoping for the first goal and we didn’t quite the breaks, we weren’t quite on the front foot enough, we weren’t quite a lot of things today.

“We weren’t good enough to win today.”

Lester believes it’s what happens on the training ground that will help fix Chesterfield’s many woes.

“I know what’s happened before, I know what happened last season, they’ve won three in about 30 games.

“It’s not just going to happen overnight, we have to change the culture in here and that will come from the training ground.

“It’s not going to be some magic team talk or magic dust, it will have to be embedding it on the training ground and it’s going to take months.

“If we had won today I would say the same.

“The vision and the clarity of what we need to do is there we just need time to do it.”

There were positives for Lester, however, who highlighted a few contributions.

“I thought Chris O’Grady did well, led the line really well, I thought Tommy made some good saves, Ian Evatt came in and did quite well.

“He commanded the ball really well, made some big tackles.

“We haven’t got a massive squad and we need everybody. It’s going to be about us pulling together, that will be key.”

Robbie Weir wore the captain’s armband for Lester’s first game, despite club captain Evatt returning to the side.

Lester explained: “Ian hasn’t played the last few games, I’ve told him to concentrate on his football.

“I like the way Robbie organises and talks, he’s a good voice in the dressing room and he trained really well yesterday.”