Injury-stretched Chesterfield need to be 'careful' in January transfer window, says Paul Cook

The Spireites had 14 players out injured for their 2-0 defeat to Fleetwood Town on Boxing Day, with Ryan Colclough and Will Grigg the latest names added to the list, with the latter’s time on the sidelines set to be a lengthy one.

Such is Town’s injury problems, they included 16-year-old academy prospect Gunner Elliott on the bench and he made his debut in the latter stages.

"Obviously our injuries are there for all to see,” Cook said. “It is not an excuse. The reality is, when you are carrying the injury list that we are, when you are probably looking to make changes at the top end of the pitch, the substitutions just aren’t there at the minute. Our fans will be aware of that.

"We are struggling for numbers but we have a big squad. This is where football clubs have got to be careful, it is not just about adding player after player, we have got to be careful in terms of squad, length of contract and everything else. But it is obvious that we do need to strengthen now and we have got to get to January 1 and within that, like I have just challenged the players, we have got to pick some points up. We will need our supporters and their energy because our strength in depth at the minute is not on the bench.”

On the injury situation, he added: "We keep going. To lose Colclough and Grigg from last week when we were already stretched, they are two big players at the top end of the pitch, we are stretched.”

Town controlled possession, forced saves, had penalty appeals and a Jamie Grimes header ruled out for offside but they conceded a soft goal on 28 minutes and another late on as they chase an equaliser.

Cook continued: “It was a tough day all-round. In the game we had loads of passages of good play. We had some big moments in the first-half where we probably needed to score. We played well for long spells in the game. We had control.

"We had great support, the players gave us absolutely everything, there is no criticism, it was Fleetwood’s day today. Did they have three attempts on goal in the game? Sometimes you can have games like that.”

Next up for Chesterfield, who are sixth in the table and two points off the top three, is a trip to Bradford City on Sunday.

Cook added: “Today the lads kept going, kept working hard, we had a few moments, Grimesy’s (disallowed for offside) header was close, and there were one or two other incidents where we might have just nicked a goal, but it wasn’t to be.”