Recap: How Chesterfield beat Dorking Wanderers 4-3 in thrilling season opener
Our reporter Liam Norcliffe is at the SMH Group Stadium and will bring you the team news and updates so stay tuned throughout the day.
FT: Chesterfield 4 v 3 Dorking Wanderers: LIVE UPDATES (3PM)
Liam’s predicted Spireites line-up
4-2-3-1: Tyrer; King, Williams, Grimes, Horton; Naylor, Banks; Mandeville, Dobra, Colclough; Grigg.
Subs: Maguire/Palmer, Oldaker, Uchegbulam, Curtis, Quigley.
Lowdown on Dorking
We spoke to Wanderers reporter, Dan Stobbart, to find out how the latest news....
What are the expectations this season?
The intention will be to compete and finish as high up the table as possible, but an improvement on last term in tandem with a decent cup run will be a marker of further progress and improvement which, whist the club transition from part-time to full-time, the majority of supporters I’m sure will be really pleased with.
Who have they signed and who has left?
Among several departures early in the summer, the two key players who moved on who featured regularly for the first team last season were goalkeeper Dan Lincoln and winger Nicky Wheeler. The majority of the departures were based on certain players not being able to commit to the new mornings-rather-than-evenings training schedule as the club adopts a new hybrid training model.
Highly-rated Worthing goalkeeper Harrison Male was the club’s first signing and will replace Lincoln as the first-choice keeper for the season ahead, the only other first team business being the signing of Tony Craig on a permanent deal having joined the club on loan from Crawley Town for the second-half of last season.
Who are the key men for Dorking?
Midfielder Josh Taylor missed the middle part of last season through injury and was a big loss, his presence, composure and quality on the ball adds so much to the midfield. The experience and leadership of Craig was really key in the the defence becoming more resolute towards the back end of last season, and, as I think many Chesterfield fans appreciated in both games last season against Wanderers, McShane has that knack of producing moments of magic from midfield and was the club’s top scorer last season.
Any injuries or suspensions for this one?
Defender’s Isaac Philpot (hamstring) and Callum Kennedy (calf strain) and midfielder Luke Moore (hamstring) will all be absent having picked up injuries during the penultimate friendly of pre-season against Horsham. Winger Jimmy Muitt will also be side-lined, he is the one player not to have featured at all through pre-season and is currently awaiting the results of a scan.
Likely line-up and formation?
White hinted about being ‘respectful’ of Chesterfield in regards to the approach for this game, with pre-season form and acknowledgement of The Spireites strength in depth having retained and recruited players so well in the close season. This may lead to playing four at the back and setting up with a flexible 4-5-1/4-3-3, rather than the favoured 3-5-2 formation.
Match officials
Referee: Ruebyn Ricardo
Assistant referee: Timothy Walker
Assistant referee: Callum Gough
Fourth official: Minesh Gupta