John Askey makes honest admission after Hartlepool United's defeat at Chesterfield

Hartlepool were on the wrong end of a five-goal thriller this time after Chesterfield were able to come from two goals down to upstage Askey’s side in the 95th minute as Pools' four-game winning streak came to an end.

Things looked favourable for Pools after they raced into a commanding position inside just six minutes in Derbyshire thanks to Emmanuel Dieseruvwe’s fifth goal of the season and a quickfire second from Anthony Mancini.

Dieseruvwe showed his ability with a powerful driving run from just inside the Chesterfield half to find the bottom corner before Mancini added a brilliant second three minutes later.

Despite their blistering start, though, Chesterfield hit back within 10 minutes as the impressive Ryan Colclough headed in Liam Mandeville’s cross to reduce the deficit before Hartlepool’s momentum completely went when Mancini was forced off with a hamstring injury.

The Spireites dictated the game from that point and demonstrated why they are likely to be contenders in the National League this season – particularly in the second half as they camped inside the Hartlepool half.

Jamie Grimes levelled the scores within two minutes of the restart as Pools were undone by a corner before Colclough saw one ruled out for offside.

Pools might have thought they had escaped with what would have been a respectable draw when Will Grigg missed a glorious opportunity in the 92nd minute when heading wide from six-yards, but Paul Cook’s men still had something up their sleeve as Tom Naylor pounced on a ball into the area minutes later to power beyond Joel Dixon and hand the Spireites all three points.

It was a difficult result to take for Askey’s side, but the Hartlepool boss admits it will be something his team can learn from having conceded Chesterfield were deserving of their three points.

"We’ve got to learn from it,” said Askey.

"Chesterfield are a good side. They’ve been trying to get out of this league for a number of years and spent a lot of money, so it was always going to be tough.

"But I always thought before the game, and even after the game, it’s not going to define our season.

“We got off to a great start with the two goals but we were always under pressure, even when we scored the two goals.

"We had one or two setbacks with injuries that didn’t help but, as I said to the players, leagues won’t be won and lost by games like today.

"We've got to learn from it and we’ve got to make sure when we play the so-called lesser teams that we’re really at it and if we do that then the bigger games take care of themselves.

"Today we weren’t good enough to come home with any points. It was gutting to concede as we did at the end but on the day they were the better team.”