OPINION: '˜Chesterfield need six wins from 12 to stay up'

Years ago on New Year’s Day coach loads of Town fans travelled to Burnley only to find the game called off with an hour or two to go.

Once I recall myself driving across the Peak District to Saltergate only to find things eerily quiet and the match fogged off, if only I’d listened to the car radio rather than playing music on my stereo all the way.

RELATE CONTENT: THE STATS - HOW MANY POINTS DO CHESTERFIELD NEED TO STAY UP?Will the fixture pile up hamper Chesterfield or will it allow our injured players time to get back into contention? Nine weeks to go and 12 games to play, we need to realistically win six of those.

We’ve never known a season like it for injuries and have had a whole starting 11 out of contention and have never had a situation where we’ve had to field five different goalkeepers.

News about Robbie Weir’s injury has the rumour mill going into overdrive, if it’s a cruciate ligament it could be all over for him.

Managerial changes have abounded this week; Grimsby did manage another defeat away at Carlisle, but giving Russell Slade the heave-ho at Blundell Park has not worked out so well for the Mariners in the first game for caretaker manager Paul Wilkinson.

Who knows how things will go in the play off places for Mansfield Town now that Steve Evans has joined forces with Barry Fry at Peterborough and David Flitcroft walked out of Swindon to join them at Field Mill?

The only guaranteed victors in this situation can be the takeaway owners in the London Road area of Peterborough who must be expecting a cash windfall.

Grimsby are currently the most out of form side in England.

All we have to do is win our two matches in hand then beat them away and do a bit better than them for the rest of the season, hardly a nailed on certainty is it?

Grimsby Town also have to play Port Vale and Barnet at home, so those fixtures will be crucial for them.

So on to Lincoln at home, we got nothing away at Sincil Bank and were second best for most of that game although Kristian Dennis was allowed onto the pitch as a sub, he scored, and we could have got something.

It will take a mighty effort to beat the Imps although Chesterfield are playing better stuff against footballing teams this season.

Lincoln have a midweek game at Mansfield and will be desperate for points to get them back into the play-off zone, here’s hoping for a red card and some injuries for them.