‘I’m predicting goals’ – Chesterfield expert provides the lowdown on Hartlepool United's next National League opponents

Pools picked up their first-ever opening day win in the National League on Saturday as they beat Aldershot Town 2-1 at Victoria Park thanks to goals from Nicky Featherstone and Gavan Holohan.

Next up for Dave Challinor’s side is a Tuesday night trip to Chesterfield where they’ll be looking for a repeat performance of last season’s display.

Pools cruised to a 5-1 victory away to the Spireites last season with braces from both Gime Toure and Gus Mafuta as well as another strike from Luke James helping Challinor’s men pick up their biggest win of the 2019-20 campaign.

Somewhat fortunately for Chesterfield, none of those players are still at Hartlepool though Challinor has made several promising additions over the summer.

John Pemberton’s side experienced a pre-season even more chaotic than Hartlepool’s and were denied the chance to get their competitive season under way over the weekend as their match at Wealdstone was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

So Pools will be Chesterfield’s first opponents of the new National League season as the Derbyshire outfit look to improve on their 20th place finish last time out.

Meanwhile, Hartlepool will be hoping to start the season with back to back victories for the first time since 2015.

Ahead of Tuesday’s night’s match, we spoke to Chesterfield journalist, Liam Norcliffe from our sister title The Derbyshire Times, to give us the lowdown on tomorrow’s opponents. Here’s what he said….

What are Chesterfield’s expectations for the new season?

After two years of struggle in the National League the majority of Spireites fans would be fairly happy with a mid-table finish and the club surviving the pandemic. A top 10 finish would be seen as a good season.

The club has been taken over by the Chesterfield FC Community Trust - the first organisation of its kind to own a professional football club - and the budget is lower than in previous years. The manager, John Pemberton, is ambitious and wants to go for promotion but Chesterfield have got a smaller squad and with the packed fixture schedule it is going to be difficult.

How did pre-season go?

It probably could not have gone much worse. Chesterfield started pre-season later than most clubs because the takeover was delayed so the players remained furloughed.

That caused a number of planned friendlies to be cancelled. In the end, they only managed to play three matches because of the difficulties with Covid-19. Those games included defeats to National League North sides Alfreton Town and Guiseley.

Boss Pemberton had to self-isolate after testing positive - which meant he could not attend the Alfreton match - and his backroom staff had to stay away from the training ground. At one point, the players had to take training themselves. It has been far from ideal and Pemberton admitted that he would have liked another month’s preparation.

Who have Chesterfield signed?

They have brought in experienced goalkeeper Kyle Letheren from Salford City on a free transfer, full-back Jordan Cropper has rejoined on a season-long loan from Burnley, midfielder Milan Butterfield has come in for a small fee from Kidderminster Harriers and Nathan Tyson has rejoined after being released by Notts County.

They’ve currently got 20 players and Pemberton would like to add at least a couple more. Meanwhile, striker Mike Fondop, who top-scored with 12 goals last season, opted not to re-sign as he wanted to keep his options open.

What style of play can we expect?

When Pemberton arrived in January Chesterfield played at a high tempo, tried to get the ball out wide and get crosses into the box. Given the pre-season they’ve had that might not be possible straight away and it could take them six or seven games to really get into their stride.

Who are the key men to watch out for?

Experienced midfielder Jonathan Smith has probably been Chesterfield’s best player in pre-season. They’ve added a bit more energy and youth into the side with Cropper and Butterfield.

And I’m sure Hartlepool fans will know all about the aerial threat of towering forward Tom Denton will pose. Young centre-back, Jamie Sharman, has caught the eye and a Football League club apparently asked about him in the summer. He might not start but Town have high hopes for him.

What happened in Chesterfield’s first game at Wealdstone?

It was rained off! You couldn’t make it up.

Chesterfield waited 203 days to get back in National League action and when the day finally arrived it got called off due to a waterlogged pitch! It turned out to be the only game in the country which was postponed due to the weather which was very disappointing.

Any early team news?

Before Saturday Chesterfield were going to make a late check on Tyson who has not featured at all in pre-season due to a calf injury. I wouldn’t expect him to start but he could be on the bench.

Score prediction?

I fancy Hartlepool to do quite well this season and possibly sneak into the play-offs. I think it will be a very tough game and I’m predicting goals, so I’ll go for a 2-2 draw.

To see our Pools’ writer Dominic Scurr’s opposition view preview of Tuesday night’s match, visit The Derbyshire Times website.

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