Chesterfield 'have to be better' away from home, says coach ahead of Harrogate Town clash
Chesterfield need to show that they have learnt from their heavy defeat to Gillingham when they travel to Harrogate Town this weekend.
The Spireites were thumped 4-1 down in Kent on Tuesday night and they are back on the road on Saturday, albeit a much shorter journey to North Yorkshire.
The scoreline and the nature of the goals conceded came as a surprise given they had started the league season with three wins out of three.
Next up is a trip to a Harrogate side who are unbeaten this campaign and who beat Chesterfield in November. Harrogate play a similar way to Gillingham so the Blues will have to improve if they are to get a positive result.
“It is a bit of a kick up the backside,” assistant manager Danny Webb said after the midweek defeat. “I think we have to be better at coming to places like this and not letting the other team impose their style. That is something to look at because it would be foolish not to do so.
"We have got to learn from it because a lot of teams play that way in our league. They play three at the back, they play forward, they run forward and they are very good at the dark arts. We have to find a way to combat that away from home.”
Th defeat saw Chesterfield drop one place to third. Crewe are the only team left in the division with a 100% win record after four games.
"It is great that we are still sitting in the automatic places but after a 4-1 defeat that is a positive that we can’t quite look at at the moment,” Webb added. “It was not a night of positives. The best way to get over this is by winning on Saturday at Harrogate.”
In terms of team news, Chesterfield should have midfielder Matt Dibley-Dias available for selection after he has missed the last two matches with an ankle injury.
James Berry (hamstring) has a slim chance of being involved but he should be in contention for the following week against Crawley Town if not.
And Devan Tanton, who has missed the start of the season with an ankle problem, is set to return training with the Spireites next week after going back to parent club Fulham for treatment.