Caldwell satisfied after victory over Buxton

The Spireites won 4-0 to add to wins over Sheffield FC and Matlock Town over the last three days, Delial Brewster, Jordan Sinnott, Ricky German and Kristian Dennis netting the goals.

And Caldwell was pleased with what he saw on the playing side of things as well as with regard to his players’ attitude in what was something of a feisty encounter for a friendly match, Chesterfield lifting the G F Tomlinson Group Cup as a result of the win.

He said: ““I don’t mind competitive games in pre-season to prepare ourselves for the campaign. I liked the reaction of the players when things got a bit feisty as you’ve got to be able to show you can stand up for yourselves.

“It’s great that we’re creating a lot of chances. The hardest bit is putting the ball in the net and the more we train and play I’m sure the strikers will get even better at that.

“We could have converted more over the three games but I’m delighted with the goals total and the clean sheets too in the last couple of games so it’s been a positive week in many different aspects.

“Any time you play and there’s a trophy up for grabs you might as well win it so it’s been good to do that, and we’ll certainly be happy if we can add more to that next season.

“We’ve got a bit of winning mentality and we’ll take that forward to the games against tougher opposition.”

With regard to the training camp in Spain, Caldwell is determined to work his players hard but also put the emphasis on other aspects too.

He said: “There will be lots of hard work on the training pitch coming up as well as two games against tougher opposition than we’ve faced so far. It will be a tough week physically but important also to get the team bonding given we’ll be spending 24 hours a day together for a week.

““I’m delighted fans are paying money to come over and see us. We’ll have some open training sessions that they can watch and obviously they can come and watch the games too.

“It will be great for them to see the players in a different environment and to get up close to them in the training and afterwards too.”

On the player front, Caldwell revealed that Joe Rowley was rested as a precautionary measure at Buxton, while defender Liam Graham has left the club after returning for a trial period.

Caldwell said: “Joe’s fine and was just rested as a precaution given he has a knee problem and we don’t want to risk anyone.”

“Liam Graham has been on trial with us and we wanted to see him in a game but he picked up a little injury and he won’t be staying with us.

“We’ve had interest from agents for some players but nothing official from any club. We have good players here and teams will be interested but we’re keen to keep them here and add to an already exciting group of players.”