Chesterfield attacker James Berry spoke exclusively to 1866+ ahead of Saturday’s fixture against Shrewsbury Town, discussing the feeling in the dressing room after Tuesday’s win, Malik Owolabi-Belewu’s debut and his continued love for the Chesterfield supporters.
“Especially after Saturday, to come back and bounce back from it with a comfortable 3-0 win against a tough opponent is amazing. It shows good character from everyone.
“The lads that started and lads that came on were all at it. The lads coming back into the team put in a good performance, it was a good Tuesday night. We were just bang at it on the day and hopefully we can take this form towards the latter end of the season. Everyone knows what we want to do.
“It’s no secret that we want to go up automatically and we’re not far off. If we can put a nice little run together, hopefully we can do something special.”
On his personal game, he added: “Everyone knows that I want to play as much football as I can and score as many goals as I can. I think with the minutes that I’ve got, my goals and assists are pretty good.
“I’ve scored some big goals this season, especially Bristol Rovers away; I thought that was probably the biggest I’ve scored so far. Hopefully I can take those big moments into the end of the season where it really matters in terms of getting promoted.”
With Malik Owolabi-Belewu impressing on his debut against Colchester United, Berry spoke about the squad’s appreciation of his performance.
“We were all buzzing for him,” he said. “I know for myself, it’s an easy changing room to get bedded into. Everyone makes you feel so welcome. All the lads in there are brilliant. It’s not a changing room where they just leave you to it, they integrate you in straight away and make you feel like you’ve been there for years.
“It’s an easy club to get settled into. With Malik playing well and all the other lads coming in January, it’s no surprise because everyone around the club makes the players feel so welcome when they come in.”
Focusing on Shrewsbury’s threats, the 25-year-old said: “I think they’re all tough tests. The league has shown this year that anyone can beat anyone at any place. Any team that turns up, whether they’re bottom of the league or top of the league, anything can happen on the day.
“For us as a team, we’ve just got to be ready for anything and play like we did on Tuesday. It was a massive result and probably one of the first teams we really put away and they didn’t cause us any bother. Keeping that sort of mentality and that attitude towards every game is going to put us in good stead.”
Having adopted a familiar chant amongst the Spireites fans this season, he commented: “I’m buzzing that I’ve got the tune in the background. It’s great when the fans are singing your name because you know that you’re doing something right.
“Obviously, I’ve got a big connection with the fans. I really do like the Chesterfield fans. They’re brilliant. I just want to keep that relationship that I’ve got with them going. Hopefully, when they sing my name, I can repay them with big goals.”
Listen to the full interview on 1866 Sport in the build-up to Saturday’s game, with coverage beginning from 2pm.
Tickets remain available here.
