The Spireites return to the SMH Group Stadium to host Oldham Athletic this evening for their second fixture of the week.
Paul Cook’s Chesterfield come into this one off the back of a thrilling 3-2 win over Notts County at Meadow Lane, backed by 1,954 away fans. They will be hoping to cement their place in the play-off positions.
Oldham head to the SMH Group Stadium in a fine run of form, having manufactured a seven-game unbeaten streak that includes five wins. The Latics will be hoping for a late surge into the play-offs.
In the Spotlight
Jack Stevens joined the Latics in the Summer from Solihull Moors, after amassing 35 goal contributions over his last two seasons in the National League.
The left-winger has been in fine recent form, scoring three and assisting twice in his last five games, most notably scoring both goals in Oldham’s 2-0 win over Crawley Town.
This is Stevens’ first career season in the EFL, having previously played for Chippenham Town and Branbury United before his previously mentioned stint at Solihull.
The gaffer’s record
Paul Cook has come up against Oldham on 12 occasions in his managerial career, having won five, drawn six and lost only once.
The reverse fixture this season ended 1-1, but there was no shortage of action. Adam Lewis scored the opener before Kane Drummond equalised in the second half. In added time, Kyle McFadzean was sent off, but Zach Hemming saved the resulting penalty.
Cook’s last victory over Oldham came in September 2022, in which Joe Quigley and Jeff King both scored inside the opening ten minutes to earn the Spireites a 2-0 win.
Man in the middle
Ross Joyce will take charge of this game, assisted by Jack Forder-Hay, Stephen Wade and fourth official Declan Bourne.
Joyce has officiated 13 games involving Chesterfield in his career. The Spireites have won three, drawn one and lost nine of those games.
His most recent game was against Liverpool U21s in the Vertu Trophy, in which the Spireites drew 2-2 and lost on penalties.
Danny Webb’s thoughts
“We have a couple of real humdingers against them in the National League, real proper games.
“They’re on a hell of a run, real hell of a run. They’ve conceded the second least amount of goals in the league, which is a credit to Micky Mellon and his players and staff. But the league position doesn’t lie, we’ll be going into the game as favourites.
“Let’s kick on now. Sooner or later, we’ve got to do it. You’ve got to win a couple on the trot, especially if we’ve got aspirations of getting out of this league, and Notts County away was a massive step in the right direction.”
