Why Chesterfield pair were missing against Lincoln City

The Spireites won 1-0 at Sincil Bank on Tuesday, with Paul Cook’s son Connor scoring the winner in the second-half.

The victory means Town have five points from their two group games, with one to go at home to Grimsby Town, putting them in a strong position to qualify for the knockout stages.

There were nine changes to the starting line-up from the side which lost 1-0 at Gillingham on Saturday, with youngsters Cook and Ali Mohiuddin making their first starts for the club.

Two other names expected to be included in the squad at the very least were Liam Jessop and Jenson Metcalfe. Jessop has been in and around the squad for cup fixtures and made his EFL debut against Crewe last month. Metcalfe joined on a season-long loan from Everton on deadline day and came on as a late sub at Gillingham.

But it emerged that Jessop was unavailable because he is on international duty with Gibraltar for their friendly tonight (Wednesday) against Andorra and their Nations League opener against Liechtenstein on Sunday.

And Metcalfe was cup-tied because he had already played in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy for Everton’s under-21s in their 3-1 away win at Tranmere Rovers.

In other team news, Ollie Banks missed out with a tight hamstring but is set to return to training on Thursday, while Harvey Araujo and Devan Tanton are now back in training. Liam Mandeville returned from an ankle injury to play 35 minutes on Tuesday night. Ryan Colclough and Paddy Madden are a little bit further behind, while Ryheem Sheckleford has had an operation on his hamstring and will be out until November, as will Ash Palmer who still has his knee in a brace.

Chesterfield, who will submit their squad list to the EFL today, host Grimsby Town on Saturday (3pm).