'Stockport County clash will gauge where we are', says Chesterfield boss John Pemberton

The Hatters are tipped to win the National League title after some impressive signings including 20-goal man John Rooney from last season’s champion Barrow.

Jim Gannon’s team will be odds-on to beat the Blues in front of the BT Sport cameras this weekend but Chesterfield manager John Pemberton believes his side can match them.

“We are playing a team that has had a good summer, Pemberton said. “They have recruited well. They are in good form and they are one of the favourites to go up this year in our league. They are a team that has scored a lot of goals and a team that has got good players so it will be a very tough game.

“We certainly want to bounce back from the result we had on Tuesday and obviously we want to play well whether there are cameras there or not. It is a new challenge.

“We went toe-to-toe with Harrogate last season who are now doing really well in the Football League, showing people what a good side they are, and we more than matched Harrogate so that is what we look at and take the positives from that.

“We know on our day we can give anybody a game. What we have got to do is have a good reaction which we have done when we have lost a game. It does put a bit more pressure when you lose a game going into the next one but we understand that. To see where we are now as a team, probably playing against the most-inform team other than Hartlepool, we will get a gauge of how close or far we are.”

In terms of team news, striker Nathan Tyson continues to step up his recovery work after a calf injury and could be in contention for a place in the squad, while Josef Yarney is back in training after missing the game against Torquay United due to swelling around the knee.