Chesterfield selection decisions for Walsall draw explained
Picking which players to include on the bench is one of the ‘hardest’ tasks at Chesterfield right now.
With seven new additions made in this transfer window, the squad is packed with quality and depth, and if anything they probably have too many players, which could see one or two leave.
The number of options they have was highlighted on Saturday with some of the players who missed out on a place in the matchday 18, including not naming a substitute goalkeeper.
Will Dickson signed permanent terms from Manchester City last month but he was one of those who did not make the bench.
On choosing the subs, Gary Roberts told the DT: "It is really tough, it is probably the hardest thing. Will Dickson has done nothing wrong to miss out on the bench. I felt for him because I think he has done well when he has played. He trains ever so hard. He has signed for the club permanent so his time will come. He will get time on the pitch and he will be a good player for us but it was a tough one leaving him out today.”
Janoi Donacien was named among the subs for first time in almost a month after injury because it was felt his versatility could be useful, while it was decided that two games in a matter of days for Chey Dunkley, who has only just returned after a month out, might be too much for him, but they also wanted to include him for tactical reasons which might have arisen later in the game.
Roberts said: "With JD he can cover all four (positions in defence) so he had to go on because that gets us an (extra) flair player on (the bench). With Dunkley, we just felt late on in the game, Walsall might bombard you with set-plays and everything coming in your box and we thought that if we went to a three (at the back) Dunkley would be in the centre of that. The thinking behind that was more security with Dunks as well as him being a massive character. He was unbelievable on Tuesday (against Salford). Coming into this one was probably a bit too quick for him with his injury but we needed him about in case we needed him.”
One plus from the last week has been the return of Dilan Markanday, who has scored two goals in his last three appearances after injury, including two starts. With him having not been out for as long as Armando Dobra, who was sidelined for three months, it was decided he would be okay to play again and he netted Chesterfield’s second in the 2-2 draw.
“It was a really tough game (against Salford), that game took a lot out of our lads,” Roberts said. “We rolled Dilan again because he is probably a bit further on. I thought there were some tired legs out there which we will manage this week. It has been a really week, they have travelled to Newport, picked themselves up after a bad result, gone to Salford on a horrendous pitch and today it was a high tempo game.”