Chesterfield manager John Sheridan's open assessment of 5-1 thrashing against Hartlepool United

Pools ran rampant at the Proact Stadium as a goal from Luke James and braces from Gus Mafuta and Gime Toure saw them claim their biggest win of the season so far.

Chesterfield barely registered a shot on target with their single goal coming from Peter Kioso nodding the ball into his own net.

Following the game, Sheridan told PeakFM: “I can only apologise for the performance, not that it means anything to anyone.

“It was just a shambles from the start and I struggle sometimes to try and explain a performance like that.

“We’ve had bad performances but nowhere near as awful as that. I’m putting a team out there that I think is more than capable of winning the game.

“It’s very hard to explain – Hartlepool have came here and completely outplayed us, bossed us and passed us to death. We couldn’t put two passes together and looked as though we’ve never played together.

“Before they scored the first goal we should have been two or three down, [Luke] Coddington has made some outstanding saves. They caused us problems all night but we should spot danger quicker.

“It’s one of the worst defeats I’ve had as a manager. This is the [lowest point], we’re at home, it’s a strong team to go out and compete.

“I won’t be going anywhere, I will stay and I’ll fight, I’ll take the stick which I don’t like but I’ll turn it around.”