Dear Santa . . . .all Chesterfield FC really really want for Christmas is . .

Dear Santa, all Chesterfield want for Christmas is a good result on Saturday, an extension of Callum Burton's loan and to sign a proven goalscorer.
Picture by Howard Roe/AHPIX.com;Football;FA Cup;2nd Round;
Chesterfield v Grimsby;
02/12/2018  KO 2.00 pm;Proact Stadium;
copyright picture;Howard Roe;07973 739229;

Chesterfield's     Callum Burton saves a Grimsby shotPicture by Howard Roe/AHPIX.com;Football;FA Cup;2nd Round;
Chesterfield v Grimsby;
02/12/2018  KO 2.00 pm;Proact Stadium;
copyright picture;Howard Roe;07973 739229;

Chesterfield's     Callum Burton saves a Grimsby shot
Picture by Howard Roe/AHPIX.com;Football;FA Cup;2nd Round; Chesterfield v Grimsby; 02/12/2018 KO 2.00 pm;Proact Stadium; copyright picture;Howard Roe;07973 739229; Chesterfield's Callum Burton saves a Grimsby shot

There might be a few other things on Martin Allen’s letter to the big man in the red suit, but he’d surely settle for a point at Orient, permission from Hull City to keep his goalkeeper and to strengthen his attack.

Burton hasn’t conceded more than a single goal in league action since he arrived.

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He’s got four clean sheets to his name and his shot stopping has been a big part of Town’s mean defensive record since the end of September.

Should Hull give him the green light to remain a Spireite until the end of the season, it would be a weight off the manager’s mind.

Conceding goals hasn’t been the issue for Allen’s men, it’s sticking them in at the other end that has proved problematic.

It might seem an odd time to highlight goalscoring as an area of concern, on the back of a 2-0 win over Salford and a 5-1 rout in the FA Trophy.

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Admittedly, those games brought three goals for Alex Kiwomya, two for Tom Denton and one, at long last, for Lee Shaw.

Kiwomya is starting to look full of confidence, Denton showed again that he’ll chip in if the service is right and Shaw might find them easier to come by now he’s got his first out of the way.

But that 5-1 win was against a team of part timers from the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League.

No disrespect is meant to either Basford or what is a very tough division, but the gulf between them and National League Chesterfield was glaringly obvious.

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Scoring on a weekly basis is something no one at the Proact has yet mastered.

There have been signs of promise, reasons for festive cheer, in the final third.

Levi Amantchi’s emergence as one for the future continued apace against Salford.

You can’t expect him to do it for 90 minutes every week, though, not at barely 18 years of age.

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It wouldn’t be fair on the teen to place Chesterfield’s goalscoring responsibility on such young shoulders.

Kiwomya is only here on a month’s loan, which is also true of the lively looking Jordan Hallam.

Their time at Town could come to an abrupt end very soon.

Denton has obvious strengths but needs the right kind of crosses - he’s not going to hare away from a defence and isn’t likely to make something out of nothing for himself.

Shaw is not yet a proven National League goalscorer. He’s yet to find the net in a league game.

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In Alfie Beestin, another on a month’s loan, Town look to have added the creativity they lacked in midfield.

There’s a slightly temporary feel to the attack at present though and that, along with the fact that no one up front has yet hit double figures, should ring alarm bells.

If staying in this division at all costs is the stated aim, bringing in someone to bang in 15 between now and the end of the season should be a priority.

The budget might be a very, very competitive £1.3m, but we were told the decks were being cleared in order to make room for new players.

Zavon Hines, a permanent, experienced, senior pro has left.

He’s yet to be replaced.

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A permanent signing would be ideal, particularly if Town want to start building a team to stay up this season and challenge next season.

And should Allen be allowed to recruit someone who does find the net, it’ll be another reassurance for fans that the manager can get it right - like he did with Burton and Jonathan Smith, if not with Marc-Antoine Fortune.

It would also be a sign that the manager and the new CEO, Graham Bean, can do good business together - presuming, of course, the CEO is to have involvement in that side of the club.

Having stopped the rot, stopped the goals (plural) going in at the wrong end, they’ve got to ensure they’ve got a strikeforce capable of firing them up the table.

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Then, and only then, will Chesterfield be in a position of strength.

Signs of good things and hints of potential are not guarantees of anything.

Admittedly there’s no guarantee of goals with any player.

But with an Adam Rooney or a Macauley Bonne, Salford and Orient respectively know that they’re always in with a chance of nicking a goal and maybe even a result.

That’s something Chesterfield cannot yet say with any degree of certainty.

Santa, lady luck or anyone else for that matter hasn’t been all that kind to the Spireites lately.

So if it’s not too much to ask, stick a striker under the tree, for me.