Chesterfield's summer recruitment aimed at transforming them from 'good' to 'great', says boss James Rowe

The Spireites finished sixth last season and many thought there would be a few minor tweaks to the side this campaign.

But the Blues have shipped out the popular Grant Smith, Joel Taylor and Tom Whelan, who all played a big part in the run to the play-offs, and have brought in ten new faces.

And Rowe says that has been done to take them to the next level.

“It is never easy to say goodbye to some players that performed well for the club so it was really difficult,” he explained.

“There were some difficult conversations with players, and staff, that were part of that group.

"The common goal is EFL football, in my tenure here we want to achieve EFL at some stage, so we have to build for that and a tough part of that is changing or evolving when you have got good things going on. But taking a team from good to great is a different kind of challenge and that is why the decisions were made and that is why some individuals have come into the building that I think can take us to the next level.”

Rowe also said that they probably ‘overachieved’ last season and that they were not expecting to have to make the number of changes they have this summer.

“It has come upon us quicker than we can maybe achieve EFL status in the second year of my tenure so it was important to make those tweaks,” he said.

Kabongo Tshimanga has been Chesterfield’s big money signing from Boreham Wood and his arrival is a positive sign that the club is moving forward, the manager added.

“He (Tshimanga) had some other options but for him to choose us as a club, I think speaks volume of where the environment has moved to and that is credit to everyone in the building. We are building a culture here that people really want to be a part of and I think the signing of Kabongo underlines that.”