'It was mental, like a full-on league game' - fit-again winger savours Trophy triumph and two special goals
‘I have been thinking about stuff like that for a long time, ever since I’ve had my injuries’
Two-goal man Dylan Duffy is loving the exhilaration of finding the net again after his injury troubles.
The winger’s double in the stunning back-from-the-dead defeat of Mansfield Town were his first in a year.
That was also in an EFL Trophy tie, against Liverpool U21s, but nothing to match last night’s high-octane Group fixture that finished 5-3 in front of 5,233 spectators.
“It’s a cup where you don’t normally get a big crowd. This was mental, like a full-on league game,” Duffy told SpireitesTV.
“Our end was sold out was it? Unbelievable, and we felt it (their support).
“The minute Joel (Randall) got our first goal I knew we had a chance. I thought we played really well.
“Mansfield are a good team. We saw that last year when we played them in the League Cup.
“It’s a derby but we showed we wanted it more.”
Duffy’s progress last season was hampered by injury and he also had a delayed start to this one before returning in September.
Such is Chesterfield’s abundance of choices in forward positions, the 23-year-old has had to bide his time for game time.
His two goals last night were a reminder he can score as well as create.
“The first one, I was going to cross it but I hit it. It all happened so quick,” he said.
“The second one was unbelievable. I felt class afterwards.
“I have been thinking about stuff like that for a long time, ever since I’ve had my injuries.
“I wasn’t doing what I wanted to be doing but that made it all worth it at the end.”