It’s a trip to runaway leaders Chesterfield this Saturday in our third visit to the SMH Group Stadium and the Fleet will seek to upset the form book and build on the solid draw at home to Oldham Athletic last weekend.
Form guide
Chesterfield lead the pack by an impressive 22 points with a game in hand. Of their 31 games so far this campaign, they have only failed to win five of those. Not only will they be looking for their 27th win of the season this Saturday but they will be hoping to get a step nearer to Wrexham’s points records of last year (and are already five points ahead of that goal). For the Fleet, Danny Searle’s arrival at the club saw his debut in the dugout earn a point live on TNT Sports and the visitors have nothing to lose against the champions elect.
Last time out
A tight game at the Kuflink Stadium back in September saw the only goal of the match arrive in the final 10 minutes from Armando Dobra. The Fleet held on to a clean sheet for 82 minutes with a strong Mark Cousins performance and the defence in front of him doing well to keep the visitors at bay. But it was 10-man Chesterfield who took the three points after having Michael Jacobs sent off right at the end for a second yellow card.
Key numbers
Despite only managing one against the Fleet, the Spireites have scored an impressive 77 goals this season, averaging 2.5 a game – 18 of those have come from their number 9, summer signing Will Grigg. They’ve been keeping the goals out of their own net as well, with Bromley the only team to have conceded (35 to Chesterfield’s 36). Of their 16 home games so far, Chesterfield have won 15 and drawn one.
The manager
Paul Cook has been in charge of Chesterfield since 2022 following the departure of James Rowe in what is his second spell at the club. The successful Cook has managed EFL clubs such as Wigan and Portsmouth and is now in touching distance of taking the Spireites back up.
Club connections
Chesterfield captain Jamie Grimes (pictured top) made 33 appearances for the Fleet in the 2019/20 season and played in the for us in our previous visit to the SMH Group Stadium four years ago, a month before lockdown ended the campaign. Following his departure in 2020, he made the move to Hereford and then on to Chesterfield in 2021. He has featured 29 times this season.
Ticket info
Fans can purchase tickets online here for Block E1 for savings of £2 against the matchday price.
