Why double Chesterfield substitution against MK Dons could give glimpse into second-half of season

A response of ‘and?’ would be a fair reply for anyone not familiar with the Spireites’ usual subs, which quite often are like-for-like. But at Stadium MK on Sunday with the hosts two goals to the good, Paul Cook made two changes which made people sit up. It signalled a message of ‘we’re going for it.’

Will Grigg coming for Lee Bonis won’t have raised many eyebrows. That was a straight swap. But then off came Ronan Darcy, replaced by Freddie Ladapo for his debut. A number 10 withdrawn for a proper out-and-out striker. That was a bit different and not something we have seen regularly under Cook.

A minute later and Chesterfield were back in the contest, debutant Sam Curtis heading in Liam Mandeville’s free-kick. Game on. Ladapo’s physical presence gave MK something different to think about. He almost swept in a pull-back from James Berry, while he also caused panic in the home ranks from a set-piece just seconds before Grigg then nodded in the equaliser from the resulting corner.

It was potentially a glimpse into what we could see in the second-half of the season. Although Chesterfield won’t change their style, there have been times when people have made reasonable arguments for going with two strikers in the latter parts of games that they are behind in. Flashbacks to the Walsall play-off semi-final spring to mind.

Cook was asked about the possibility of playing two up front from the start at a fans’ forum last year. No chance. None of the top teams in the country play with two strikers. Football has moved on, he said.

He explained: "One of the things I pride myself on in my whole managerial career is that, I would suggest, in 90% of the seasons, the team I have managed have finished as leading scorers in the division. Very few teams are playing two up front now, very few. I am not being disrespectful to people my age and older, it is something that that age group clamour and crave because we all got brought up with it, but modern day football is different now.

"What we are coming across now with low blocks and stuff like that, the way to beat it is width and crosses in the box. To play two up front you have to put the ball forward quickly and hit the two lads at the top end and your team has got to be built then on picking up second balls. Our team is built on flair players who can play in a totally different way. I respect the two up front, but will I be turning to it? No.”

So, although fans should not expect to see two up top from the start of the matches, it could be something we see more of when they need to create some chaos and spark something different. And with three forwards in Bonis, Grigg and Ladapo, there is depth in firepower there and it would make sense to use it in certain scenarios.