Is young goalkeeper about to land himself a contract at Chesterfield as back-up for number one Kyle Letheren?

Wharton, who was one of the players who left the club when the restructure of the academy took place earlier this year, has been training with the first-team during pre-season and came on at half-time in the friendly win against Belper Town.

With fellow goalkeeper Luke Coddington still around two months away from returning to action following a knee injury, it appears Wharton is in line to step in as back-up for the start of the upcoming campaign.

When asked about Wharton, boss John Pemberton said: “He made a good save at the end and he is a good size and a good shape.

“Coddington is on his way back, hopefully it will be sooner rather than later but we are still looking at maybe another two months off and that is why Dylan is in.

“We do need that number two. The budget is tight, we don't quite have the money to go get one so...we don’t need one if we have got one under our noses.”

Another youngster who is trying to stake a claim is 19-year-old striker Luke Rawson, who Pemberton is keen to have a look at after previously saying he has been “ignored” in the past.

“We are not quite sure what we are going to get from Luke,” Pemberton said. “I think you have seen some good bits of what he is about. I think that will come with experience the more he plays. I just think Luke needs a goal and you will see a total difference in him. I had him in the academy and I know what he is about and I think he deserves a chance and I want to give him that chance.”

Meanwhile, Pemberton was pleased to see Laurence Maguire get some minutes under his belt against Belper after a injury-hit season last year.

“He has been out a long time but he is getting fitter and he looked okay,” Pemberton added. “He didn’t stretch himself but I didn’t want him to. I wanted him to feel his way through the game and get an hour under his belt and then we’ll see how he is.”