Chesterfield's hat-trick hero on the fans, his strike partners, dropping a stone and targeting points

The striker, who became the first Spireite to score a treble from open play since Leon Clarke in 2011, believes the 3-1 FA Cup win at Billericay was a deserved boost.

For a man who has made a career of scoring plenty of goals, it was also a first.

“Last time I got a hat-trick was two years ago for Halifax, first game of the season at Nuneaton,” he said.

“I might have done (scored an FA Cup hat-trick), early qualifying rounds though, not the first round like that.

“It was a good night, we won the game, it’s our first win since Fylde in the FA Cup.

“We played well as well, thoroughly deserved to win.”

On a terrible night for football, weather wise, it was a good night to be a Spireite.

There haven’t been too many of those in recent seasons, and Denton said the players were keen to share the full-time celebrations with the hardy bunch of travelling supporters.

“We went over and I think we shook nearly every fan’s hand at the end of the game.

“It means a lot to the players that the fans are there, behind you.

“It was a freezing cold night, raining and you could hear them singing down in that corner.

“It was just nice to celebrate a couple of goals with them.

“Then we all had a high five and a hug with the manager and said let’s go on to the next one.”

For a side who have struggled to hit the net of late, scoring three times was important.

And Denton gave credit to his strike partners Lee Shaw and Levi Amantchi, who set one up apiece.

“We were saying after we could have had five or six, we had chances before and after the third goal.

“It was good to score so early after conceding, that was a big plus, it probably won us the game.

“Lee did brilliantly all night down the right. I don’t know if he’s keen on playing there all the time but he didn’t look out of place to be fair.

“He’s done some good work and set me a tap in, same with Levi when he came on, took on a couple of players and laid me on six yards out.

“Delighted for those two as well.”

The arrival of Jordan Hallam today, on loan from Sheffield United, makes it a seven-striker squad at the Proact.

Denton says the new lad looked ‘sharp’ in a technical finishing session this morning.

But the man who arrived from part-time Alfreton earlier in the season is feeling pretty good himself, having adjusted to life in the professional ranks.

“I came in and ended up losing nearly a stone in weight,” he said.

“I feel a lot better for it now.

“Hopefully I can reap the rewards with some more goals and more wins.”

Chesterfield visit Eastleigh tomorrow and host Bromley on Tuesday, hoping to pick up their first league wins since 11th August.

Denton says it’s time the squad began resurrecting the 2018/19 season.

And a repeat of Tuesday’s performance would stand them in good stead.

“It’s a big game tomorrow actually,” he said.

“I was just thinking there’s two big league games before the next round of the FA Cup.

“If we can get six points, well we probably need six points if we’re going to do owt in the league this season.

“If we play like we did on Tuesday night there’s every chance we can get a victory.”