Boss admits harsh treatment of '˜tremendous' Dimaio after poor first impression

Chesterfield manager Gary Caldwell has admitted that his first sight of the midfielder wasn’t overly flattering.

But the 21-year-old has worked his way back into his gaffer’s affections.

So much so that Caldwell isn’t overly happy about Dimaio’s call up for the Republic of Ireland Under 21 squad to face Kosovo on Saturday 25th March.

“Not a lot because we lose him for a week,” said the Scot, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, when asked how pleased he was that Dimaio had earned more international recognition.

“It’s good for him.

“He’s been tremendous since he came into the team, for someone that was out of the team.”

Caldwell revealed that Dimaio’s performance in a Derbyshire Senior Cup game against non-league opposition had set the player back when it came to first team pecking order.

But something the local lad has been doing in training has obviously worked because he’s played the last two games for Town.

“I probably have been a little bit harsh on him,” said Caldwell.

“I saw him in the Matlock game when he didn’t have his best of games.

“As a first impression it probably knocked him back four or five weeks.

“He’s managed to get himself seen by me and shown his quality and he’s someone with big potential.”