Chesterfield boss Jack Lester says injuries forced his hand in Crewe defeat

Chesterfield fell to a 2-0 loss at home to Alexandra, with what is likely to be the longterm absence of injured skipper Ian Evatt making a back three a necessity.

Defensive frailties cost the side, however, with the two first half goals particularly sloppy.

Lester said: “We didn’t really want to play that shape, but we lost Evo who has been such an influence for us at the back, probably out for a good few months at best.

“We’ve only got three fit defenders.

“The style of attacking play we’ve had we couldn’t really do.

“We wanted to get as many of our best players on the field as we could and we felt we had enough out there to win the game.”

The manager felt the second half performance was better than the first, but he wasn’t exactly plucking positives out of the defeat.

“I thought we played well second half but the game was dead,” he said.

“We’re used to having little overloads on the outsides and little overloads in the middle but we only had one player out wide.

“I still think we had enough quality in terms of personnel to give Crewe a better game than that.

“Our attacks need to be more sustained and we need to defend better.

“I don’t think there was anything I was pleased about today.”

Despite the disappointment of the result, a third straight defeat for Town, Lester was keen to draw a line under it.

“I think it’s time to move forward. We’re only adrift on goal difference, I don’t think anyone would have imagined we’d have done that when we came in so that’s a positive.

“We’re one game away from the January window so that’s a positive.”