For the second time in four days City cruised to defeat against a side expected to gain promotion, and attention now turns away from a tough run of league fixtures to an FA Cup tie with all the potential of a banana skin with the potential riches of the third round awaiting the winner. Gary Caldwell rang the changes against Birmingham – Woods returned from suspension while Harper and Bird were given starts – and there may be further changes in store with another tough league match ahead on Tuesday night. Woods picked up another booking on Tuesday meaning he will now serve another suspension, while Kamari Doyle may return to the starting line-up with City struggling in recent fixtures to create any openings. This tie has extra meaning for Caldwell, who had a brief spell in charge at Chesterfield as they dropped from third to fifth tiers in successive seasons, and whose stock amongst the supporters up in Derbyshire is particularly low.
After six seasons in non-league, Chesterfield finally returned to the 92 last season having run away with the National League. As with the likes of Wrexham and Stockport, the Spireites’ spending means the expectation is on Paul Cook’s side to go right through into the third tier, and they have made a decent start to life back in the EFL, currently sitting in 8th place following a 1-0 win over Barrow in their last match, while they reached this round by beating Horsham 3-1 in round one. The main strike threat comes from someone Josh Magennis will know well – fellow Northern Ireland striker Will Grigg, who has nine goals in all competitions this season. James Berry also has nine goals, while there is plenty of experience with the likes of Chey Dunkley and Paddy Madden for Cook to call upon.
The last time the sides met was in Chesterfield’s relegation season of 2017/18 – both sides won their respective home matches with City winning 2-1 at the Park, going 2-0 up through Stockley and an own goal from Whitmore before Kellett reduced the arrears. That was revenge for Chesterfield’s 1-0 win earlier in the season through Dennis. Saturday marks the first time the sides have ever met in any cup competition.
The match officials for this game will be:-
Referee: Jacob Miles
Assistant Referee: Declan O’Shea and Daniel Flynn
Fourth Official: Steven Swan
Jacob Miles took charge of the League Cup tie earlier this season with Walsall which Exeter lost 4-3 on penalties after the game finished 1-1. Prior to that he took charge of an Exeter game in January of this year, the 1-0 win away in L1 at Bristol Rovers.
Ilmari Niskanen interview
