'We showed masses amount of character', says Chesterfield manager James Rowe after win against Altrincham

Akwasi Asante netted the winner just after the break and then Grant Smith saved substitute Joe Piggott’s penalty after the Spireites stopper was adjudged to have brought down Yussifu Ceesay by referee David Richardson.

Town, who have only lost one in 13 under Rowe, are now six points off the play-offs with four games in hand.

“We showed masses amounts of character to win that game against a team who have been pushing,” Rowe said.

“We have dug in and showed strength of character.

"There are a lot of positives again and we showed a different side to us and that is what this level is about because the games come thick and fast.

“We were not at the levels we wanted to be in the first half with the wind.

“They have pinned us back at the end but it has never been a penalty.

“I am starting to get frustrated because we are seven points down from where we should be from key decisions since I have been in the building and we would have been another two down which would not have been a just reward for our efforts in the second half against the wind.”

Rowe thought his team were a ‘yard off’ the pace in the first half and that he told some ‘home truths’ to his players at half-time.

"We were not at the levels we wanted to be in the first half with the wind,” he said.

“To come out in the second half, after our isolation period, knowing we are lacking that energy that we needed, to grind out a one-nil is sometimes what this level is about.”

On Smith’s penalty save with 15 minutes to go, Rowe added: “It was a great save. It is really pleasing to get two clean sheets coming back off the isolation periods.

“I thought we scored a good goal and we are shifting in the right direction.”

The Blues are next in action away at sixth-placed Stockport County on Saturday.