'We can learn a lot from excellent Chesterfield,' says Horsham boss after FA Cup defeat

The Spireites defeated the Hornets 3-1 in the FA Cup first round on Saturday, with Will Grigg scoring twice and Armando Dobra netting another.

Chris Dickson pulled a goal back late on for the spirited visitors, who are in the seventh-tier of English football.

“I thought the boys did great,” Di Paola told Sussex World. “You can’t fault the effort and endeavour, I just thought we lacked that bit of quality maybe to do something in the game.

“I thought they (Chesterfield) were really good to be fair. We watched them a lot but fundamentally they are good players doing good things.

“It was disappointing to concede early in both halves. I felt we got better as both halves went on, but it’s gone by then to be honest. You need everything to go your way in games like this.

“The game-plan was always to be a bit more expansive as the game went on, but unfortunately the goals at the beginning of each half killed our ability to bring our explosive players on at the end of the game.”

Town boss Paul Cook made five changes but named a much stronger line-up than expected.

Di Paola continued: “It’s a big compliment that they played such a strong side. Bringing on a Scottish international (John Fleck), Paddy Madden, (Ryan) Colclough, they’re all top, top players.

“We might look back on it and say it wasn’t quite right, but sometimes you have to tip your hat to a team and say they were an excellent side.

“We can learn some stuff from them to take back into our league campaign. I felt there were things that they do that we can try to replicate at our level."

He added: “It was a good experience for the boys. They gave their all but I felt we were beaten by the much better team.

“If you’re talking about the game-plan, we were a six-and-a-half, seven out of 10 - but you need to be 11 out of 10 on a day like today.”