Chesterfield team news for FA Cup clash against Chelsea

Manager James Rowe will not ‘shy away’ from making some big calls in his team selection for the trip to Chelsea.
Laurence Maguire could be in the squad against Chelsea.Laurence Maguire could be in the squad against Chelsea.
Laurence Maguire could be in the squad against Chelsea.

Every squad member will of course want to be involved in the starting line-up but the boss will not be picking his team based on sentiment.

Midfielder Jack Clarke has been ruled out for the season with a recurrence of his hamstring injury and has undergone an operation.

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But the Spireites welcome back two more defenders in addition to the recent return of captain Gavin Gunning.

On tomorrow’s team news, Rowe said: “We are looking stronger, we have got some players back, but it is the same as the last two league games.

"We have to integrate them slowly and make sure we don’t lose anyone for the long-term.

"Unfortunately we have lost Jack Clarke for the long-term but we were patient with him, it was just an unfortunate recurrence of the rupture. He has had his operation and he is out for the season unfortunately.

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"But Luke Croll is back in the fold, Laurence Maguire is back, Gavin Gunning has had two games under his belt now so we are looking a lot stronger.”

When asked by the DT if it will be hard to leave out some players from the starting line-up, Rowe said he wasn’t scared of making the big decisions.

"I don’t shy away from those tough decisions,” he explained.

"We have got to pick the best team possible to pick the best possible result

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"It would be unprofessional of me if I start changing tack from what my coaching values are. It is simply choosing the best team to get the result from the start and then obviously the subs that come on the pitch will be the ones I feel can best influence the game as it goes on.”

Saturday’s FA Cup clash will be the first match Town have been involved in with VAR.

"It is an outlier that is different from our normal environment in the National League,” Rowe added.

"We have spoken to the players, any outlier like that that can influence the game, we have to be prepared for and we are.”

He joked: "It is new for us so Gavin Gunning will have to be careful!”