It is an important day for Town on Saturday afternoon (3pm) as they host Chesterfield at Blundell Park in a game that could very well decide the fate of both clubs come the end of the campaign.
A bumper crowd is expected for the crunch clash between the two sides as both look to earn enough points to retain their EFL status for another campaign.
With Town four points ahead of Chesterfield in the bottom two and the Spireites having three games in hand following their postponement against Newport County at the weekend, Saturday would be an ideal time for Michael Jolley’s side to end their winless run and so he will be hoping for both a positive performance and result
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Town look set to remain without Ben Davies through injury, whilst Malik Wilks has returned to Leeds United after he went off with a hamstring injury against Stevenage last weekend and so those two will continue to join Charles Vernam and Paul Dixon on the sidelines.
The game is also likely to come too soon for Walsall loanee Simeon Jackson, but he is making good progress and could feature against Barnet, whilst Karleigh Osborne could also come into contention for a place in the matchday squad.
Chesterfield aiming to survive
It has been a difficult season for Chesterfield as they look to avoid a second relegation in a row but boss Jack Lester has brought them some hope since taking over earlier in the season.
The former Town and Chesterfield striker took over in September after a nightmare start to the season saw the club win only one of their first 10 games.
Although the club have remained in and amongst the relegation zone, they have shown signs of a young squad that has potential, which was shown in front of the television cameras when they beat Notts County 3-1 last weekend.
They followed that up with a 2-1 defeat to Port Vale, which perhaps shows their inconsistency and one of the reasons they are fighting to avoid relegation.
Despite their position, they are capable of scoring goals and in striker Kristian Dennis, they have a player that has hit 17 goals this season and the Mariners will have to keep quiet. The likes of Wigan Athletic loanee Andy Kellett and Zavon Hines are also talented players on their day.
An opening day victory for Town
The reverse fixture between the two sides saw Town come away with an opening day victory that showed much promise as they beat Chesterfield 3-1 at the Proact Stadium way back in August.
First half goals from Nathan Clarke and Sam Jones gave Town a two goal lead on the day before Chesterfield got a goal back through Dennis and it was down to Ben Davies to settle the nerves as he sealed the victory three minutes later from the penalty spot.
The two sides have met 91 times in their history, with Town winning 39 and Chesterfield winning 29 along with 23 draws.
Managers in summary
Michael Jolley: ”We know that they are a team that are capable of producing good results. I saw them recently beat Notts County and they are a very capable team, so we are in for a difficult fixture but I believe that they are as well, so it should be a good game. Nobody needs to tell us how important Saturday is. We hope and expect our supporters to create a really good atmosphere, get right behind the team, stick with the team through the 90 minutes. If they can do that, we will do everything in our power again to try to repay them with the result we all want.”
