"I am just going to keep grafting and stake my claim for a place' - Chesterfield captain Jamie Grimes says he is ready to fight hard for his place

The no-nonsense defender has seen his game time limited this season with the loan arrival of Fulham youngster Harvey Araujo.

And Grimes, who proved to be an inspirational leader during Spireites’ National League winning season, admits it is a situation which has left him more than frustrated.

“It has been difficult for me,” he said. “ I am used to playing every game, so it's a different role for me.

“The gaffer has spoken to me about it and where I stand. I would be lying if I said I'm not frustrated.

“I want to play and find my rhythm. When I play I feel like I'm not in a good rhythm and I'm trying to find my feet.

“I am just going to keep learning and keep grafting and stake my claim for a place, to use my experience in the dressing room to help other players as much as possible.”

And Grimes did his chances no harm at all after coming off the bench to head home an 89th minute winner against Barrow on Saturday.

“It’s a great feeling to win at home after quite a while without one,” he added. “We have been really hurting this week, we are not used to losing and have been hurting.

“It wasn’t the prettiest, but it was resolute and we came away with the win, which is what we wanted and needed.

“I am proud of the boys because we were a bit low this week after the defeat at Harrogate. We have come back with a win and that is what we need to kick on.

“The gaffer's message has been that we are playing against teams who are trying to frustrate us but we have got to be solid behind the ball. We did a bit of work on our defensive shape this week and it was a bit of a dogged display.”

And the commanding centre-back is now keen to see Spireites rack up the wins needed to cement themselves in the promotion hunt.

“I want to see us put back-to-back wins together and really kick on, to get that winning feeling and roll teams over, especially at home - I don’t think that’s too much to ask with the squad we have,” he said.

“We have an unbelievable squad, but we just haven't clicked yet. We are all frustrated but we are working really hard to put it right.

“We had a good start and scored a few goals and the teams are now showing us a lot of respect and often changing the way they play. They are man marking our better players, frustrating the life out of us and counte-rattacking.

“That happened in the National League at times but there are better quality of teams, coaches and organisation in this league and you can see they are doing a job on us. We have got to get better at playing that.”