Chesterfield "in limbo" as they await National League decision, says boss John Pemberton

The campaign has been suspended until at least April 3 due to the coronavirus outbreak but is expected to be postponed further in line with the Premier League and EFL.

The Spireites are 19th with eight games left to play and are two points above the relegation zone.

“I would be very surprised if they can put a date on this - when to come back - because no one knows,” Pemberton told the DT.

“You look at the situation in other countries - in Italy and Spain - and we are two weeks behind them.

“We can’t think about doing anything until we can get the players together and we can’t even get the players together at the moment. It just leaves you in limbo.”

The Spireites are not in training at the moment but have been given individual fitness programmes.

No Blues players have developed any symptoms and defender Haydn Hollis, who was previously having respiratory problems, is now okay, Pemberton said.

The Town caretaker manager reiterated that he does not want to play matches behind closed doors and does not see how that would be possible given the country is all but in lockdown.

“Don’t forget the players have been off and they will need a good three or four weeks of training,” he said. “It is going to take a while to get back into some sort of elite shape.

“Even playing behind closed doors I just do not know how that is going to work because you will still have people travelling.

“Do I want to play behind closed doors? No I don’t. Would I ideally like to finish the season? Yes. Even though we are out of the relegation zone and it would be easy to say ‘finish it now’ I think that would be unfair.”

He added: “We have got no idea what this virus is and where it is going and what it leads you with and until we know that we can’t say we are going to be doing anything.”