Spireites players left deflated after Shrewsbury draw

The midfielder made his return to the starting line-up but couldn’t help the relegation threatened Spireites to find a winner.

“Feels a bit of a loss because of where we are in the league,” he said.

“We battled well but we’re disappointed with a point.”

Dimaio admits that Town can’t afford to drop any more points from their final nine encounters, with an eight point gap between them and safety.

“That is a must win game on Tuesday,” he said.

“This was today but we’ve just got to try and get a win from somewhere.

“We have to win every game now, we can’t afford to slip up.

“Winning games, giving as much as we can. If it’s not enough, it’s not enough but we’ll put as much effort in as we can.”

Chesterfield huffed and puffed but despite plenty of possession late on they couldn’t really trouble Shrewsbury.

Dimaio said: “It was end to end and we don’t want it like that.

“The gaffer said we need to push up a bit more and get on the second balls.

“It’s the final ball, a bit of composure, just finishing it, which we’ve lacked all season but we can learn from that and take it into Tuesday.

“Near the end the crowd got with us and that’s what we need in this situation.

“There was a lot of effort out there and we should have given a bit more but we can give more on Tuesday.”

Dimaio and team-mates watched in horror during the second half as captain Ian Evatt, by far their best performer on the field today, was stretchered off with a knee injury.

He concedes it’s a major disappointment.

“That’s a massive blow. He’s done incredibly well for the last couple of months, he’s a strong player and he will be missed.”