Paul Cook sat down with 1866+ to discuss his thoughts ahead of Tuesday evening’s fixture at home to Gillingham.
He started with his reflections on the 1-1 draw with Harrogate Town on Saturday afternoon.
“First of all the result, which is the main thing by a country mile,” he said. “Just disappointed again, we were in a winning position and for whatever reason, you can write excuses until they come out your ears, (but) the brutal reality is you drew the game 1-1.
“Reflecting from being in that winning position to giving up points again, it’s really going to harm us at the end of the season without any shadow of a doubt because it’s happened that many times.”
Addressing post-match reactions on Saturday, he added: “The big one from my point of view, I just want to sort of tidy up the little bit of post-match reaction from myself/supporters.
“At every football match, away from home I clap hands before the game, down the tunnel, shake hands with the opposition. At home, come out, cup of tea, at the end of the game always wait outside the opposition dressing room, shake hands with every one of the opposition and come in.
“I’m coming in from there, the pitch-side (on) Saturday; players/staff were a little bit disappointed with some of the criticism/abuse that was coming from small sections of the crowd, shall we say. My reaction is to 99% of Chesterfield supporters how much I love them. They know that.
“There’s no need for us to discuss much more than that, other than how many times I speak about how proud I am of our support. Our stadium is a place now which has gone from 5,000-6,000 to 8,000-9,000. We will always get supporters that are unhappy – it’s the world we live in today.
“I’d always ask supporters not to turn on our own players. They’re our players. These lads, in general, haven’t done a lot wrong other than a percentage wrong, which we all know that percentage. So my message to that small minority is you be what you want to be. To 99% of the Chesterfield supporters, I love you as much as you love me. So I think we can all move on from here quite quickly and concentrate then on the game tomorrow night.”
Focusing on the Gillingham game, the manager said: “(Gareth Ainsworth will) do what he has to do to get Gillingham where they need to be. For us, it’s just we need three points tomorrow night.
“It’s right back on the bike, we go again. Supporters play such an important part in moments of the game, we need them, they need us. This season, especially at home, we haven’t given them what they’ve wanted from us enough times. There’s no hiding place from that.
“We said Bristol Rovers was one of our best journeys. It was because of the outcome. The reason the Walsall and Harrogate games are disappointing, is because our supporters were there.
“I’m sure Gareth Ainsworth will feel Gillingham might be able to make the play-offs. It will take a big run from them. Our objective is that we have to be in the play-offs. There’s not a case of making them. So for us, we just concentrate on winning the next game, and we’ll do that by being united as a football club.”
Lastly, he gave his thoughts on Liam Mandeville’s new contract.
“I just think he epitomises what’s good about our football club. I think when we watch ‘Mandy’ play, if you could ask what a Chesterfield football player’s DNA look like, it’s Liam Mandeville.
“He’s universally liked in the dressing room, coaches room and on the terraces. I think Liam’s probably last of the pre-Paul Cook era players, and we all love him. No different than our supporters love him.
“So glad to have him with us on the rest of where we’re trying to go and long may his success continue at the club.”
Tickets for the match are still available here.
