Chesterfield defender to be assessed for Notts County 'blockbuster' Boxing Day clash

The Spireites host the Magpies on Friday in what should be a mouthwatering tie in front of an expected sell-out. The two teams are separated by just three points and three places in the League Two table, with Notts currently fourth and Town seventh.

Ahead of the big match, Chesterfield will check on Dunkley after the centre-back injured his knee in the 1-0 win at Shrewsbury on Saturday. The 33-year-old landed awkwardly in the latter stages but he managed to finish the game but did not look particularly comfortable. Tom Naylor picked up a knock in the same match but the midfielder was okay afterwards, it was confirmed.

Chesterfield will be able to call upon John Fleck again for the first time in three games after the midfielder completed his suspension following his red card against Doncaster Rovers. But they will still be without Armando Dobra, Dilan Markanday and Bailey Hobson, with the trio all unavailable with hamstring injuries. Janoi Donacien is the closest one to returning and he has a chance of being available for Notts.

Providing some injury updates on Naylor, Dunkley and Donacien, Gary Roberts said: “Tom soldiered on. He takes a whack every game. You always see him limping at some point. Chey landed funny on his knee, we will assess that one. We could possibly have JD back for the Notts one. If not, the one after.”

The Blues go into the game on the back of successive wins against Barnet and Shrewsbury Town, while County are unbeaten in four, including three victories. This fixture never disappoints and is always full of high drama. The rivalry has intensified over recent years when the two clubs were battling for promotion in the National League. Notts took the bragging rights when they won the play-off final at Wembley on penalties in 2023, but Paul Cook’s men followed them into League Two a year later as they romped to the title.

Roberts added: "We go into a blockbuster one now on Boxing Day which we are looking forward to. We will have Tuesday off this week and that will be our last day off now for 12 days. We are in Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and the day after Boxing Day because the games are coming so quickly. Our next day off after that will be after MK Dons. It is important, there are a lot of points to be had over Christmas, and we have got some really tough fixtures.”