Curtis Weston still has Football League aim in his sights with Chesterfield after signing new contract

The midfielder, 34, has penned a new deal until the end of next season which will take his stay at the Blues to four years.

“I am delighted to have signed,” he said. “I have enjoyed my time here, especially over the last few months, so I am really, really happy.

“My initial goal joining was to get the club back into the Football League and that is still the goal in place. We wanted to do it a bit earlier but that is definitely still the goal.

“There is a lot of hard work to be done but I think we have started that now over the past few months and there is a good feeling around the place at the moment.”

As well as signing on the dotted line, Weston has been named club captain and taken on an ambassadorial role with the community trust.

He explained: “It is great, it is an honour. It is a big club and a club where we want to go places as well. To be given it is a big responsibility and I am really proud.

“Will Evans will continue to wear the armband, he has been doing incredible at that. For me it is more about helping out in the background with bits and pieces. It is similar to what I have been doing really, just making sure everything ticks over in the background.”

On his ambassadorial role with the trust, he added: “The support we get from the fans and the community is second to none so I think it is important to give something back as and where I can, whether that be Zoom calls around mental health or fitness stuff that the guys in the community can use, quite a few people have reached out and said that has helped them which is nice.”

Weston, who has started every game this season except one, said that one of the big changes under boss James Rowe is the intensity of the work that they are being asked to do.

“He (Rowe) is very much into his sports science so he is looking at distances, high intensity and what work you are doing so it is keeping us on our toes for sure,” Weston explained. “He is very thorough down to the small details, he wants to make sure you are giving 100 per cent physically and mentally so he is demanding but I like to work that way myself so it is perfect for me.”

The former Barnet man believes there is a ‘real togetherness’ in the camp and that everyone is ‘mucking in’.

He has been helping with that togetherness himself by leading fitness classes on Zoom during the isolation periods, and admits that is an area he is more likely to pursue than coaching or management.

So have Chesterfield finally turned a corner now?

He added: “I think so. I look at our form, I know we lost on Saturday, but we are still doing really well. I think we have still put some really good wins and performances together.”