Recap: Kabongo Tshimanga scores hat-trick as Chesterfield hit four past Barnet in dramatic encounter
The Spireites are unbeaten in five but have drawn their last two so they will be hoping to return to winning ways.
The Blues hammered the Bees 6-0 in this fixture last season but a lot has changed at Barnet over the summer, including in the dugout where they are now managed by former Leeds and Liverpool winger Harry Kewell.
Liam Norcliffe is there tonight and will bring you everything you need to know.
Chesterfield v Barnet: LIVE UPDATES
Key Events
- FT: Chesterfield 4 v 2 Barnet (7.45pm KO)
- Tshimanga tap-in and penalty make it 2-0 after eight minutes, completes hat-trick with another spot-kick in second-half
- Visitors score two deflected strikes in three minutes to equalise before half-time
- Gunning scores deflected free-kick for goal number four
- Five changes for Chesterfield tonight as Grimes, King, Weston, Khan and Payne replace Maguire, Carline, McCourt, Mandeville and Rowe.
- (3-4-1-2): Loach; Kerr, Gunning, Grimes; King, Weston, Oyeleke, Miller; Khan; Payne, Tshimanga. Subs: Carline, Whittle, McCourt, Mandeville, Rowe.
- Maguire missed out with ankle injury
Here we go
Well good evening everybody and welcome to a slightly misty and drizzly Technique.
The fans have made their way into the stadium for the first midweek home game of the season.
I think this will be similar to Saturday against in Dover in that it will not be as easy as people might think.
James Rowe is confident of a reaction - let’s see if it pans out like that. Fingers crossed he is right.
Stayed tuned for all the big talking points from the game.
A look at the team news
Unsurprisingly James Rowe has opted to ring the changes tonight.
Grimes is a straight swap for the injured Maguire in the back three.
King will bring some pace out wide for Carline, while Weston and Khan will freshen up the central midfield area.
It will be interesting to see where Khan plays tonight. Will he be the furthest forward of three central midfielders who will he be a straight swap for Mandeville in the number 10 role? We’ll soon find out.
Up front, there’s a first start at the Technique for Payne, replacing Rowe.
Whittle is back on the bench for the first time in a while.
No Minter, Maguire (ankle), Clarke (hamstring) and Tyson in the squad.
Team news confirmed - five changes
Five changes for Chesterfield tonight as Grimes, King, Weston, Khan and Payne replace Maguire, Carline, McCourt, Mandeville and Rowe.
(3-4-1-2): Loach; Kerr, Gunning, Grimes; King, Weston, Oyeleke, Miller; Khan; Payne, Tshimanga.
Subs: Carline, Whittle, McCourt, Mandeville, Rowe.
Team news
The Spireites will assess defender Laurence Maguire (ankle) ahead of kick-off.
He was forced off in the second-half against Dover and James Rowe said that they would see how he gets on in training.
If he’s not ready then Town have a more than capable replacement in Jamie Grimes.
Rowe said there is a sickness bug in the camp so there could be a couple of other surprise absentees but we will have to wait and see.
Haydn Hollis, Jack Clarke, Akwasi Asante and Tom Denton are the long-term absentees.
Liam’s pre-match thoughts
We go again!
It’s similar to Saturday in that Chesterfield are facing a team who are yet to win but of course this time they are on home soil.
Tonight’s opponents have had a mixed set of results in that they got hammered 5-0 at home to Notts County but they have also picked up creditable draws against Solihull Moors and Eastleigh.
It is a game the Spireites are expected to win but it doesn’t always work out like that, as we saw on Saturday at Dover.
I’d expect James Rowe to ring the changes (see my predicted line-up below).
Rowe says he is confident he will get a reaction from his players following the poor performance against Dover, and this group do tend to respond to adversity well.
I’m going for a 2-0 home win.