January transfer window will be season-defining for underachieving Chesterfield

So there goes the unbeaten home record in the league. Bromley are now the only side in the division not to have lost on their own turf this term. Cambridge United actually have the best points return in their own backyard with 20 points from nine games and the Spireites go there next week.

Saturday was another ‘what if’ and ‘nearly’ match. It had a lot of potential but it ended in disappointment. After getting level immediately after going behind, Chesterfield really took the game by the scruff of the neck for the remainder of the first-half, played some great football, but could not get their noses in front and that left you with a nagging feeling at half-time that the Robins would be chuffed not to be trailing and that they would regroup. And they did just that, changing formation three times, and once they retook the lead they did not really look like conceding. They have now won the joint most away games (five) along with Walsall.

Individual errors are really costing Chesterfield right now and some of them are being made by experienced players. They are not being cut open. They are gifting teams goals. It feels like the Blues have to work so hard to score a goal but the opposition don’t. It also feels like the opposition, no matter which part of the league they are in, are so clinical and punish the Spireites at pretty much every opportunity.

Scoring goals is not a problem for Chesterfield, they have the joint second best attack in the league with 32, MK Dons lead the way with 35. But the goals conceded column remains a worry. Second from bottom Harrogate Town have conceded fewer (28) than the Blues (29). The Spireites have sixth worst defensive record and they have got to tighten up or they can forget promotion. Three against Accrington Stanley. Three against Crewe. Two against Swindon. They can’t keep having to score three and four goals to win games.

So what is the answer? There is not much that can be changed in terms of personnel right now due to injuries. Could there be more ins in the January transfer window than what was first imagined? Maybe. Do they need to go back to being more pragmatic like against Burton Albion, Stevenage and Grimsby? Quite possibly. At the same time, there is not much you can do coaching-wise if individuals are making the same errors. Once they step over the white line, it is down to them to produce the goods.

Despite only losing once in 10 in all competitions, it does not feel like that. Chesterfield are marginally underachieving right now. There are five more league matches before the transfer window opens and, as it stands, the business they do, or don’t do, will be season-defining.