Impact of '˜outstanding' coach has been evident for Caldwell

Gareth Piper arrived midway through June, ahead of Chesterfield’s early return to training.

The work the former Wigan coach has put in with the Spireites squad has been evident in pre-season friendlies, according to Caldwell.

“He’s been outstanding since he came to the club,” said the manager.

“I don’t work with him, the players work with him and I’m sure every one of them would tell you how good he is.

“We see it on the pitch, the levels of fitness are extremely high, the highest I’ve been since I’ve been at the club.

“And they’ll only get better because of the plan we’ve put in place.”

Caldwell says his past working relationship with Piper at the DW Stadium is key, because they’re on the same wavelength about what needs to happen in order to get and then keep the squad fit and fresh.

“We’ve worked before and we understand what we need to do to get players through a 46-game season, said Caldwell.

“He’s really important to that.

“Physically they’re getting stronger every day and will continue to get stronger throughout the season.

“Players are still at 100 per cent late in games, still pushing forward and that’s down to the work he’s done with them.

Piper hopes to stay on at the club when his seven-week deal expires, and Caldwell appears keen to keep him in place too.

“It’s something we’ll look at this week,” he said.