Opinion: Chesterfield FC show improvement

Our lack of goals in recent weeks has been a major concern, mostly down to our missing midfield strength.

Gardner, O’Shea and Ariyibi were all failing to deliver chances for our strikers, however the latter certainly set out changing that.

Gboly caused Crewe multiple problems at the weekend and was certainly a thorn in their side.

His work in the build up to our second goal was particularly impressive and you could tell that by the end of the game he had given his all, hopefully he will be able to keep up this form into the final months.

Our strikers have shared most of the blame for our lack of firepower in the final third and, to a certain extent quite rightly too.

Although, on Saturday, both Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Lee Novak proved that, given the opportunity, they are able to convert chances and thus it was particularly pleasing to see Sylvan end his mini -goal drought and hopefully this goal will be the catalyst towards furthering his tally.

As for Mani, I feel that some of the criticism aimed towards him is unwarranted.

Yes he didn’t do a great deal on Saturday, but he didn’t need to, once we took a 3-1 lead we did not need to chase further goals it was more a matter of consolidating our lead.

Admittedly Mani is perhaps some way off League One first team standard and maybe a loan move to a team in the Conference would be the best way forward at this time. But we must remember that he is still some way off being the finished product at 21 years of age.

Our two home debutants had solid games too. Declan John appears to be of a much higher standard than League One and we are definitely lucky to have him in our side.

He put in a solid performance and seemingly fitted well into our back four which has ultimately been made stronger by the addition of Tom Anderson. Meanwhile the performance of Connor Dimaio certainly deserves its plaudit.

For a young midfielder he managed remarkably well against a physically strong opposition; he got stuck in, defended brilliantly and most importantly of all when his goal-scoring opportunity arose he took it excellently, at first viewing he certainly seems to be an exciting talent for the future.

Although this match was crucially important for us to win we need to avoid complacency, Saturday’s away fixture at Gillingham is bound to be tough and to earn a point there would be outstanding but March in particular is crucial, it will sees us face; Blackpool, Fleetwood and Oldham, three matches which will no doubt be a sign as to whether we stay up comfortably or stay in the dog fight up until Sunday 8th May.