John Sheridan will run his eye over Chesterfield trialists tomorrow at Staveley

John Sheridan will run his eye over a number of trialists in Saturday’s pre-season opener at Staveley Miners Welfare.
John Sheridan working with his new-look Spireites squadJohn Sheridan working with his new-look Spireites squad
John Sheridan working with his new-look Spireites squad

The Chesterfield boss has already had a look at potential development squad signings in training, including his son Jay, Paul Scholes’ nephew Ryan Scholes-Beard and former Sheffield Wednesday keeper Dan Wallis.

The Derbyshire Times understands he’s also taken a striker on trial, as he attempts to strengthen his strikeforce in the wake of Tom Denton’s knee surgery.

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Denton, who was last week disciplined by the club for playing cricket while injured, will be out of action for up to two months.

Sheridan isn’t quite ready to make decisions on his trialists just yet, preferring to first give them opportunities to shine in friendlies.

“They’re coming in and working hard and running, but I judge people in games,” he said

“They’re just getting fitness at the moment, couple of young lads for the development squad and one or two for the first team.

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“I wouldn’t judge them just on what times they do in the running, I like to judge them in a match situation.

“One or two will play in the game on Saturday and possibly in the games we’ve got next week.

“It’s like any player, trying to earn themselves a contract.

“They’re all working hard.”

Sheridan’s Spireites are almost two weeks into their pre-season programme and he’s happy with how it’s progressing in training.

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“Things are going well, lads are working hard, getting a lot of work in,” he said.

“Fitness wise they’re looking okay.

“The game’s changed now, they come in and do a lot of ball work very quickly now, it’s totally different, they’re a lot fitter than what they were years ago.

“Technically you think you’re alright but when you’ve been out a while you’re still rusty with the ball and it’s important you try and get into it as quickly as you can.

“It’s just about getting fitness, getting to those standards you need when the games come around.”