Lee could be Championship keeper says Crossley

Mark Crossley recently left his role as goalkeeping coach at the Proact to become John Sheridan’s assistant at Notts County.

He holds Lee in such high regard that the stopper was the second person Crossley told about his departure, after informing Spireites boss Danny Wilson.

Crossley, who worked with Lee in two stints as a Chesterfield coach, believes the 30-year-old could do a job in the division above, despite playing his entire career in League One and League Two.

Former Wales keeper Crossley said: “Tommy is great.

“I don’t think he’s missed many games over the last five or six years and I think he’ll come back stronger after the surgery he’s just had.

“He’s an excellent League One keeper and if I was at a Championship club I wouldn’t hesitate to try and take him.”

Crossley, who himself played over 200 times in the Premier League, said Lee was a dream to work with.

“He’s not the biggest but he works at his game.

“He’s a fantastic pro, one of the best I’ve come across, he never misses training,r arely misses games, he’s low maintenance, he listens and still wants to learn – what more could you want from someone?”

Having now settled into life at Meadow Lane, Crossley will be hoping to speak as highly about his Magpies players as he does Lee.

The 47-year-old and his boss Sheridan have been busy recruiting in recent weeks.

“We’ve signed six players and every one of them was either in the play-offs or in a promotion team,” he said.

“We’ve gone for experience, people that know the league and hopefully they can be a big part of us getting out of it.

“There are a couple more to come yet, the chairman has backed us.

“The club is a sleeping giant, we have a brand new training ground, the ground itself is about a 20,000 seater, a really modern ground.”

“It just needs to get going again and it’s up to John and myself to do that.

“I really think we will.”