A goal in either half condemned the Spireites to a 2-0 Boxing Day defeat to Fleetwood Town at Highbury Stadium.
Paul Cook made two changes to his side that beat AFC Wimbledon with James Berry and Kane Drummond coming in for the injured Ryan Colclough and Will Grigg.
Sixteen-year-old academy player Gunner Elliott was named on the bench.
The early exchanges didn’t bring much in the way of chances. Drummond had an early shout for a penalty after seemingly being bundled over in the area – referee Benjamin Speedle waved the appeals away.
Berry had the first effort of the game in the tenth minute; his shot from the edge of the area was claimed by David Harrington.
As the game neared the half-hour mark, Fleetwood opened the scoring. Ryan Graydon just about slipped the ball through for Matty Virtue and the midfielder slotted his shot past Max Thompson and into the bottom left corner.
Chesterfield looked the better team despite falling behind and Harrington played a big part in that.
With a few minutes left in the half, the goalkeeper palmed away Liam Mandeville’s fierce attempt before getting up to deny Drummond and Dilan Markanday from close-range.
Mandeville would soon once again have his shot-on-goal thwarted away by Harrington as the home side went into the break with the slim lead.
The second period followed a similar pattern as the first with notable moments few and far between.
Ronan Coughlan had the first chance of the half with his snapshot held by Thompson.
The goalkeeper then had to be at full alert to push away another Fleetwood attempt.
Jamie Grimes headed home from Berry’s free-kick to bring the scores level. However, the linesman’s flag went up to deny the skipper.
As the game ticked into the 87th minute, the hosts added a second. Substitute Kian Harratt latched onto a ball over the top of the defence before lashing a shot past Thompson from a tight angle.
Armando Dobra almost pulled a goal back in added time as his shot was batted away by the hands of substitute goalkeeper Jay Lynch after an initial cross hit a post.
Chesterfield: Thompson, Sheckleford, Naylor, Grimes ©️, Araujo (Horton 85), Banks (Oldaker 83), Markanday (Cook 90), Mandeville, Dobra, Berry (Hobson 83), Drummond (Elliott 83).
Unused Substitutes: Boot, Jessop.
