Manager Paul Cook gave his thoughts ahead of the Spireites’ first League Two away fixture in six years, against Crewe Alexandra.
Speaking to the media, he said: “We travel across to Crewe tomorrow, really looking forward to a good game. I watched Crewe play at Barrow last week and in my opinion, they were the better team on the pitch on the day, albeit they lost 1-0.
“They’ve gone to Rotherham in a really tough fixture for anyone and come off the wrong end of a 2-1, similar to ourselves.
‘They’ve got some really good players; they’ve got a clear identity and good style of play. Very much in the traditional Crewe ways and they can hurt us tomorrow, without a shadow of a doubt.”
Like Chesterfield in 2023, Crewe lost in last season’s League Two play-off final at Wembley Stadium to Crawley Town.
Cook praised Lee Bell and his team for their resilience last campaign and expects the Railwaymen to bounce back.
“They got to the play-off final last season, so yeah be a good tester for both sides. I think they’ve done amazingly well as a club. I think it’s Lee’s first job,” Cook stated.
“Great credit to Lee and his Crewe team for getting to Wembley – losing at Wembley is a tough one.
“But life goes on and you know Crewe will be expected this year to have a good season, for whatever it looks like for Crewe.”
Over 3,000 supporters backed the Blues at Pride Park on Tuesday in the narrow defeat to Derby County.
Cook spoke about the importance of support, saying: “I think from my time being back at Chesterfield now, I’ve really enjoyed the fact of watching the club grow in front of my eyes. And that’s just not on the pitch, that’s off the pitch.
“You see the pride we have at Derby on Tuesday night. I go down the tunnel listening to all of them supporters singing, yet we just lost a game of football.
“I say all the time, you don’t have to win football matches to make your supporters happy.
“Supporters can’t be kidded and when they see you give everything that you’ve got, they’ll always clap you off the pitch.”
