Report by North Derbyshire Radio Senior Football Correspondent Ben Smith
Chesterfield put in another productive pre-season shift on Saturday, holding Premier League side Nottingham Forest to a goalless draw in their friendly encounter.
The Spireites welcomed Forest to the SMH Group Stadium for the second consecutive summer, with Nuno Espirito Santo‘s team running out 3-0 winners when these two sides met twelve months ago.
However, the hosts did come into this year’s fixture having beaten League One outfit Burton Albion 5-0 in midweek, providing a timely boost in confidence as they prepared to go toe-to-toe with a side set to compete in European competition for the first time in 30 years.
And that confidence appeared to carry over as this one got under way, with fourth-tier Town playing with commendable composure throughout the first 45.
One particularly neat sequence of play saw Dylan Duffy and Will Grigg combine to produce a shooting opportunity for the latter, but the experienced striker could only find the arms of Carlos Miguel.
Duffy, a regular nuisance during his time on the pitch, then went close himself to notching the first goal right before the break, but was unable to keep his effort down after more positive work.
A goalless half represented some solid work from Paul Cook’s side though, and they would nearly take the lead once more when play resumed as Chey Dunkley headed just over from a corner.
Forest did briefly click into gear as the hour mark approached, with Zach Hemming forced into action to deny Jota Silva and then Jimmy Sinclair in quick succession.
But a complete change in XI from Cook shortly after would act as a circuit breaker for that momentum, and the game would then fall into the lull in which it would remain for much of the closing stages.
Chesterfield now head to Southern Spain for a training camp which includes a game against Gibraltarian side Europa Point, before returning for an all-North Derbyshire clash with Alfreton Town next weekend.
