Chesterfield manager Paul Cook spoke to the press ahead of Saturday’s home fixture against Harrogate Town.
Reflecting on the 3-2 away win over Bristol Rovers, he said: “The whole day was terrific, from start to finish. Started the game really well. Probably had chances to maybe take the game away from Bristol Rovers, if the truth be known.
“The challenge was for us then to come back and win the game. Obviously, after conceding the second goal, we speak to the players a lot about managing disappointment.
“Disappointment on football pitches is never far away, whether that’s a refereeing decision, a bit of bad luck, conceding a goal, something that doesn’t go your way. So to respond the way we did and go on to win the game (was pleasing).
“I’ve got to be honest, I really enjoyed the game. I know it’s easy to say when you win. It was a really competitive game, but our supporters were terrific. To send them home happy like that was really pleasing.”
Discussing the general fitness of the squad, he added: “The squad’s never been in better health. Ryan Stirk is back training. He’s available tomorrow.
“We’ve never had this depth of squad all season. I think people forget, Lee Bonis was our only striker for two or three months. Armando Dobra was just out for the best part of four months, so we’ve had our hard luck stories, they’ve gone.
“We’re probably one of the few clubs at the minute with a clean bill of health. We’re as strong as we’ve been. We’re going into fixtures now where we’re at home; we have big support at home, the players know exactly what it means.
“We’ve been through the learning curves. It’s time to deliver, that’s for sure. Hopefully we can do that.”
He then gave his thoughts on Harrogate Town.
“I’ve seen quite a bit of Harrogate lately and they’ve been in the ascendancy in most games,” he said. “They’ve had a lot of games in the palm of their hands, and unfortunately for Simon and his players, they probably haven’t got anywhere near the rewards that they deserve and that’s football.
“The teams at the bottom of this league, they’re fighting for their lives. They’re absolutely scrapping and fighting for everything. So we’re under no illusions how difficult tomorrow’s game’s going to be, but we’ve got to make sure we turn up and give the best version of Chesterfield Football Club.”
Tickets for the match are still available here.
