A new back three, zero goals for strikers but no need to panic - six talking points from Chesterfield's pre-season defeat to Alfreton Town

A new back three has emerged

Okay, it was only 20 minutes against a team a division below in a pre-season friendly but I and others were all saying the same thing after the game.

Town finished the match with a back three of Jamie Sharman, Will Evans and Laurence Maguire and it looked promising.

In Sharman and Maguire the Blues have got two young defenders who are very comfortable on the ball and look at ease bringing the ball out of defence and playing passes into midfield.

Sharman created Chesterfield’s best chance of the game when he carved open Alfreton with a defence-splitting pass which Luke Rawson ran on to but his effort hit the post.

Sharman also showed his dribbling skills when he went past a couple of players as Chesterfield went in search of an equaliser.

On the other side, Maguire has a nice calmness about him and his ability to venture into midfield will help open up gaps in the opposition for the Spireites to exploit.

With the more experienced Evans in the middle of those two, it looked a nice balance.

Chesterfield had the joint second-worst defence in the National League last season and with no new defenders brought in they have got to look at change from within.

I would like to see Pemberton have another look at Sharman, Evans and Maguire against Guiseley on Saturday.

Don’t read too much into defeat

I know people may be a little alarmed at a defeat against a team a league below but I wouldn’t read too much into it.

Pre-season often brings these kinds of results with a lot of teams at different stages of their training and that was the case at the weekend.

Before Saturday, Alfreton had played four friendlies compared to Chesterfield’s one. It might not seem a lot but it does make a difference in terms of fitness and sharpness.

It was just the Blues’ second match after six months off so they are bound to be a bit rusty.

Town actually came on really strong in the second half and Alfreton only added a second with the last kick of the game as Chesterfield threw everyone forward in search of an equaliser.

The Spireites will have got a lot more from the game than thrashing someone 6-0 in a meaningless outing as well.

“We are behind in preparations”

That is what assistant manager John Dungworth said after the game and it is not exactly what you want to hear two weeks before a new season.

But there are valid reasons for this such as Town starting pre-season training a lot later than many other clubs because of the delay in the takeover and the players being furloughed.

That meant that proposed friendlies against Burnley’s first-team and Manchester United and Liverpool’s youth teams had to be scrapped because Chesterfield were at a different stage of their return and had to work in small groups.

They then had to cancel the Matlock Town friendly because of a positive Covid-19 test within the camp and unfortunately it does not look like they will be able to rearrange it.

And last week they did not have a full squad of players in training due to injuries to Nathan Tyson and Curtis Weston.

So all in all it has been a difficult pre-season but like Dungworth said in his post-match interview, they will have to put it right on the training ground in the next two weeks.

Is three pre-season games going to be enough? Probably not. But these are strange times and the situation is out of their hands.

No goals from strikers

Again, no point panicking but ideally Scott Boden, Tom Denton and Luke Rawson could do with getting off the mark against Guiseley this weekend.

Let’s face it the most important thing about pre-season is getting minutes but a goal each for the strikers a week before the season starts would no doubt make them feel more relaxed and boost their confidence.

Nathan Tyson is yet to play so the forwards will have him breathing down their necks when he is ready to return.

The Alfreton dozen (and a dog)

It would have been great to see a few hundred or so Spireites fans at The Impact Arena on Saturday but unfortunately the current regulations don't allow it.

We can go to all kinds of places but people are not allowed to sit outside and watch a game of football with social distancing in place? Seems madness to me.

It did make me smile to see a dozen Town fans (and a dog!) stood socially distanced on the hill watching the match. Fair play, fellas.

Matches are not the same without supporters so I hope Chesterfield can welcome back spectators from October 1.

It was goals galore in the Premier League this weekend but some of the games still didn’t feel exciting to me because of the empty stands.

Thankfully tickets for the first two home games of the season against Hartlepool United and Woking go on sale this week and Town can have a maxiumum 3,500 fans in the Technique Stadium which will be enough to accomodate all last season’s 2,700 season ticket holders and leave a decent amount left for general sale.

Get well soon, Pembo

Our best wishes go to manager John Pemberton who was not at the Alfreton game and is believed to self-isolating. We wish a him a speedy recovery and hope to see him on the touchline this weekend.