Chesterfield praised for 'bravery' and 'steel' in win at Carlisle United - reaction

That was the verdict of coach Danny Webb, who was speaking after a solid away victory at Brunton Park, with goals from Dilan Markanday and Will Grigg. The win takes Town up to sixth in the table.

Webb said: “I thought it was a really professional and an excellent defensive performance. I thought we deserved to win.

“We are a newly-promoted team and we can’t get carried away with the result or the position in the table. We have got a lot of improvement. We want to be in the top seven come the end of the season but in the meantime we might have a few more blips where we slip down to 10th or 11th. Everyone has got to keep sticking behind us.”

He continued: “Back-to-back league clean sheets is important. It is good because in the last few years there has been a bit of criticism in terms of the goals against and defensively but sometimes the way we play that can leave the defensive players vulnerable and the gaffer really harks on about one v one defending and taking responsibility when it is your man from set-pieces and open play.

“There was a real bravery about the performance today. There were some great individual performances. There really is a bit more of a steel to us.”

Sadly, the afternoon featured more injuries for the Blues, with Lewis Gordon forced off at half-time with a tight calf and Tyrone Williams going off with a dislocated shoulder after the break.

Webb said: “We are having an injury a game at the moment but you don’t want to make excuses. We don’t want to hark on about the injuries. The players who have come in have shown that they deserve the shirt.”

Markanday opened the scoring and there will now be a nervous wait to see whether his parent club Blackburn Rovers recall him from his loan spell.

“It is a lesser of two evils isn’t it,” Webb added. “If you are thinking they are not going to recall him because he has been useless then you would rather be in a position where he is going to get called back because he is playing well. All I can say is that he seems extremely happy and is enjoying his football.”

Chesterfield return to action next Saturday against AFC Wimbledon.