Spireites preview: Rochdale v Chesterfield

The Spireites sit four points behind last Saturday’s opponents who moved up to seventh with the 1-0 win at the Proact Stadium.

Rochdale are hot on the heels of Paul Cook’s side in League Two, who face rock bottom AFC Wimbledon at home a week on Saturday.

Manager Cook said: “We have 90 minutes to win a football game, being gung-ho in the last 10 minutes is not the way to play football for me. We have 90 minutes to open teams up. The second minute of the game is as important as the other 88.

“Looking back on previous weeks, if we had drawn games we think we should have not just drawn, but won, we would be in a much healthier position.

“My message to the players is ‘do better at what we’re doing’ and have a little more patience, because we seem to have a habit at the minute of losing games we should actually be drawing and being critical of ourselves.”

Chesterfield were quiet on transfer deadline day with Cook revealing he was happy with the squad he has at his disposal.

Cook has the option of starting with one of his January signing, Ivorian international Armand Gnanduillet, who scored midweek in the Derbyshire Senior Cup win over Belper.

“He has shown good signs in training. I don’t like to put pressure on players but he has shown us signs that he has a lot of tools we can use,” he added.

Drew Talbot, who is recovering from a broken toe, is on the road to recovery but the game with Rochdale is thought to be too soon for the defender.

Rochdale are without a win in 2013 and haven’t won at home in the league since thrashing Cheltenham 4-1 on December 21.

Saturday sees Keith Hill’s first home game in charge in his second spell with the club, who have lost six of 14 games at Spotland.

Defender Shane Cansdell-Sherriff is available to make his debut after joining the club on loan from Preston for the rest of the season.

The Dale possess inform striker Bobby Grant who has already bagged 12 goals so far this term.

How they last lined up (v Cheltenham): Lillis, Rafferty, Bennett, Cavanagh, P Edwards, Kennedy, Tutte, Grimes, McIntyre, Grant, Gornell.

Recent form: L W L L L D