Chesterfield camp aware of need for clean sheets if they are to win National League title

Chesterfield are second in the table and are the top scorers in the division but they are yet to stop an opposition team from finding the net this season. They have conceded the same amount of goals as third from bottom Dorking Wanderers.

They have been dubbed the ‘entertainers’ after winning 4-3 twice and 4-2 and 3-2 in their first seven matches. But they are aware that at some point the goals might dry up and that is when they will need to tighten up defensively.

“Sooner or later you might not get that late winner,” assistant manager Danny Webb told the DT.

“While it is happening you have to enjoy the result and the thrilling emotion it brings while also trying to address it for the next game and so it does not happen again.”

Chesterfield won 4-3 at Aldershot Town last Saturday but they were pegged back to 3-3 after leading 3-1. As much as the coaching team will continue to drill home the messages, the players on the pitch might also have to take more responsibility.

Webb continued: “Sometimes it is a case of managing and tucking players in and for players to make decisions for themselves to say ‘I can’t go and press that ball’ or ‘I can’t dribble there.’

“We are not a team that wants to sit off for 90 minutes like teams do when they come to us. There might be two or three minutes in a game where we might have to soak up pressure and sit off and then go again.

“I think, sometimes, the players have to suss that out for themselves but it is really hard to criticise them after showing that courage again to get the three points.”

The Spireites’ next game is this Saturday at home to 11th-placed Dagenham and Redbridge.