Chesterfield and Paul Cook will hope to banish any demons from Tuesday night’s Vertu Trophy thrashing at Crewe Alexandra when they visit last season’s old foes Walsall this weekend.
The Spireites boss described the 7-1 defeat to the Railwaymen as his “worst defeat as a manager” in what was one of the Blues’ worst defensive performances in many fans’ lifetimes.
Against a Saddlers side who got the better of them in the League Two play-off semi-finals last year, Chesterfield face a tough away trip and pressure will be on the team to bounce back from their midweek showing.
Last match
Prior to Tuesday’s Vertu Trophy group stage fixture at Crewe, many Chesterfield fans would have been viewing the match as a chance for second-choice players to get some minutes in their legs and one which would not have much effect on morale amongst supporters and players.
However, the game turned out to be quite the opposite.
Cook made 11 changes to his side from last weekend’s 2-2 draw at home to Crawley Town as Ryan Boot, Devan Tanton, Ryheem Sheckleford, Jamie Grimes, Adam Lewis, John Fleck, Connor Cook and Liam Mandeville were all given their first starts of the season.
Despite a stark contrast in experience between the sides, the young hosts took a quick lead as Sam Waller’s goal-kick allowed Oliver Armstrong to run past an out-of-shape Chesterfield defence and play the ball across to Stoke City loanee Emre Tezgel to slot home.
It was only the sixth minute by the time the striker doubled his and Crewe’s tally from Luca Moore’s through-ball.
The 19-year-old found space between the visitors’ centre-half pairing and proceeded to finish past a stationary Boot in goal.
Ten minutes later, Sheckleford’s awful attempted pass gifted the home side another opportunity and Calum Agius ran through on goal before firing past Boot.
There was a short moment of happiness for the Spireites as summer signing Lewis curled in a brilliant free kick but the three-goal lead was soon restored by Louis Moult’s header.
After a shocking first half, Cook brought off Fulham loanee Tanton in a planned substitution to manage his return from injury, giving teenage academy defender Alex Whitney his senior debut.
However, the Blues’ performance did not improve after the break and Tezgel completed his hat-trick in the 51st minute with a solo run through the visitors’ defence.
Crewe’s sixth goal came shortly after as substitute Adrien Thibaut made an immediate impact by easily turning past Grimes before clumsily being brought down inside the box by Sheckleford.
The 21-year-old striker took his chance to score and found Boot’s bottom-right corner with the resulting penalty.
The game was capped off with 23 minutes to go by Armstrong’s excellently driven effort into the corner of the goal from 25 yards out, which completed the home side’s rout and condemned Chesterfield to their worst defeat since January 2004 – a 7-0 loss at Plymouth Argyle.
Spireites team news
The Blues’ week was made worse by news that midfielders Matt Dibley-Dias and Dylan Duffy have both been sidelined by injury.
The former is set to be out for at least three months with surgery on a knee injury required, which comes after previous fitness issues resulted in a stop-start beginning to his spell in Derbyshire.
Duffy’s situation is not as bad, with the Irish winger ruled out for a week or two due to a cyst on his knee.
The duo join Luke Butterfield and Gunner Elliott in the treatment room but will hope to be back to their best once they return, with both having performed well so far this season.
Devan Tanton made it through his 45 minutes on Tuesday unscathed, meaning a place for him in Saturday’s squad could be likely.
Dibley-Dias’ absence will mean either John Fleck or Tom Naylor will need to step in alongside Ryan Stirk, who will return to former club Walsall just three months after leaving them for Cook’s side.
Dilan Markanday is also likely to return in Duffy’s place from the Crawley draw, whilst the back five will also revert back to the one which has started all six league games so far.
Young striker Will Dickson could be included in the matchday squad for the first time since signing on loan from Manchester City on deadline day and would add to the Spireites’ attacking options off the bench.
Opposition news
Walsall and their team will be very familiar to Chesterfield fans after four meetings between the sides last season, including the Saddlers’ 4-1 aggregate play-off semi-final victory.
Head coach Matt Sadler failed to take his side to League One after losing 1-0 to AFC Wimbledon in the play-off final but has made a positive start to the season with four wins and two defeats, putting them sixth in the table.
Defensive trio Liam Gordon, Taylor Allen and David Okagbue all left this summer to join third-tier sides but they have been replaced by Vincent Harper, Harrison Burke and former Bristol City and Mansfield Town man Aden Flint.
Ryan Stirk’s departure to the Blues led them to recruit defensive midfielder Lewis Warrington, formerly of Everton and Leyton Orient, whilst they also brought in Watford goalkeeper Myles Roberts on loan to replace last season’s loanee Tommy Simkin.
Despite defeats to Gillingham and Grimsby Town, they have already beat Swindon Town, Barnet, Salford City and MK Dons, all by a one-goal margin, and are yet to concede more than once this season in eight games played in all competitions.
They beat Shrewsbury Town 3-1 in the Vertu Trophy on Tuesday night, whilst last weekend saw them bring three points back from Milton Keynes despite having 34% possession and six shots compared to the hosts’ 18.
Head coach Sadler was appointed in 2023 just a year after retiring as a player at the club and has won 53 of his 124 games in charge.
However, he did oversee their slip from 12 points clear at the top of the table in January last season to eventually finishing outside the automatic promotion spots on the final day of the campaign.
Previous encounter
The last meeting between the sides is likely to be fresh in the memories of both sets of fans and players with it being May’s play-off semi-final second leg at the Bescot Stadium.
After the Saddlers’ 2-0 first leg win at the SMH Group Stadium, it would always be a tough challenge for Chesterfield to reach the final and Charlie Lakin’s 87th-minute goal confirmed the hosts’ spot at Wembley.
Although Armando Dobra levelled the scores on the night in added time, former Spireite Levi Amantchi won the game just a minute later and sparked jubilant celebrations among the home fans, including a pitch invasion.
The Blues failed to win any of the four games against Walsall last season, meaning a Ched Evans double in August 2016 produced their last win against Saturday’s opponents.
Walsall 2-1 Chesterfield, 16 May 2025:
Spireites lineup: Ryan Boot, Liam Mandeville (Ryan Colclough), Ash Palmer, Kyle McFadzean, Lewis Gordon (Jack Sparkes), Jenson Metcalfe (Will Grigg), John Fleck, Ollie Banks (Dylan Duffy), Tom Naylor (Michael Jacobs), Armando Dobra, Bim Pepple; Bench – Max Thompson, Jamie Grimes
Match details
Walsall v Chesterfield
League Two
Saturday 6 September
15:00 KO
Bescot Stadium, Walsall
