The Spireites were beaten 3-0 by Premier League side Nottingham Forest at the SMH Group Stadium on Saturday.
Chris Wood, Josh Bowler and Ibrahim Sangare were on the scoresheet.
In the sixth minute, a slick Forest attack saw Neco Williams free on the right cut back to Emmanuel Dennis who looked certain to score from close range if it was not for a strong hand from Ryan Boot, diving to his left to make a great save.
Forest’s Nicolas Dominguez struck a post following a cut back from Anthony Elanga in the 13th minute which was the closest either side had come to opening the scoring in the opening periods of the game.
Dennis had the ball in the net just short of the half-hour mark, heading home from a free kick after challenging Boot, but referee Stuart Moreland judged the challenge as a foul on the goalkeeper and it was ruled out.
Elanga had a massive opportunity to give Forest the lead after 41 minutes as he found himself bearing down but Boot rescued the Chesterfield defence again, diving low to turn the shot behind.
The half-time whistle brought the first half to an end with the score being 0-0 despite a flurry of first-half chances for the visitors.
Forest made ten half-time changes with the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Murillo and Wood coming on.
Paul Cook made ten changes on the hour-mark with all outfield players who started the game coming off.
Boot made another excellent save just one minute after all of the Chesterfield substitutions came onto the field.
The biggest chance that the Spireites had up to the 67th minute came through Joe Quigley who wrestled past Murillo, but the striker took too long to get a shot away before getting crowded out by recovering Forest defenders.
Less than a minute later, Wood put the visitors in front, chasing Hudson-Odoi’s through ball before taking a touch past the onrushing Boot and slotting into the vacant goal.
Bowler doubled Forest’s advantage in the 75thminute, tapping in past Boot following Ola Aina’s cut back which picked out the unmarked man.
It was almost 3-0 with just under ten minutes left to play but Boot made another excellent reaction save to stop a deflected effort from Lewis O’Brien which could have easily looped over the Spireites’ goalkeeper.
As two added minutes were announced, Mike Jones had a first-time strike blocked from the edge of the box after a promising Spireites attack involving James Berry and Ollie Banks.
The final action of the game was another goal for Forest via Sangare who headed home from Hudson-Odoi’s floated cross in the 93rd minute.
Attention now turns to Tuesday evening when the Spireites travel to Alfreton Town.
Chesterfield: Boot, Sheckleford (Mandeville 60’), Dunkley (Williams 60’), Grimes © (Palmer 60’), Gordon (Horton 60’), Naylor (Jones 60’ (Drummond 90+2’)), Oldaker (Akinola 60’), Jacobs (Berry 60’), Madden (Banks 60’), Dobra (Colclough 60’), Grigg (Quigley 60’).
Subs: Cook, Hobson, Rinaldo, Jessop, Mohiuddin.
Attendance 7,368
