First-team coach Gary Roberts spoke to the media ahead of Saturday’s trip to Bromley, discussing the preparations for the fixture as the Spireites travel to the CopperJax Community Stadium for the eighth consecutive season.
Beginning with a reflection on last weekend’s draw with MK Dons, he said: “I thought the result first and foremost was a fair result. I don’t think we did enough to win the game, but I don’t think we should have lost the game either.
“We were miles better in the second half than the first. For some reason we didn’t really start the game as quick as we’d like but we found our feet and we got stronger as the game went on. If any team was going to win the game it would have been us, so when you look back it was probably a fair result to draw.”
Talking about the changes needed in performance, he added: “Just a little bit more life in our play, play a little bit quicker, move the ball quicker, press the ball a little bit harder. It’s stuff we work on every day. More final third entries, more crosses coming in the box, more tempo to our play, more aggression in our play.
“We started okay in the last couple of games, we might have been a little bit flat, but the goal hasn’t changed. There are no crazy changes going into training, we still go in training and work on our beliefs, our habits. It’s a new game, a new week, and we’ll be ready for it.
“It’s a cliche, but you never get too high, never get too low. Obviously Bromley play a different system to MK Dons and bring different threats, so the week changes tactically, but we’re quite consistent with how we work.”
Roberts then gave an injury update: “James Berry is looking good. He’s training well and he still carries that real threat of quality and in the final moments, he’s up there with the best. We’re looking forward to getting him back soon.
“Dylan Duffy is still with the physios. He’s itching as always, he loves the game and he wants to be out there as much as anyone, but he’s still with the physios for now.”
Amidst EFL Youth Development Week, Roberts spoke about the young talent within the squad: “Gunner (Elliott) is out injured, but he was really close. Alex Whitney made his debut in the cup game.
“Alex is doing really well. He’s a tall, young, left-sided defender who can handle the pressure and there’s not many of them in the country, so we work closely with Alex.
“We work on his development each day, and he’s training with some good players, so every day is an educational day for Alex. He loves work, he loves coming in, and he’s a really good boy.”
Finally, taking a look at Bromley, he said: “I’ve got so much respect for them, they have a style of play which they’re quite religious to, they’ve always got a similar system, and I think Andy Woodman done an unbelievable job there.
“They’re up near the top of the table and they’ve only lost one game in the league, which is huge. We’ve always had really good battles with them over the years, but after the game there’s so much respect there. We respect what they’re doing and I can only imagine they respect what we’re doing.
“We’ve had some great games over the years and it’s great to see them doing well, like ourselves. We’ve come out of the National League and we’ve both started our League Two seasons quite well. So much respect, they carry threats all over the pitch, they get in your box and they’ve got some big boys who attack the ball really well.”
