Chesterfield v Harrogate Town: Simon Weaver warns Sulphurites not to be 'in denial'

The Sulphurites go to Derbyshire on the back of a game at Newport County which produced some encouraging statistics – 60 per cent possession and 20 shots.

But the number that mattered was the 3-0 scoreline the Exiles won by. So manager Weaver has warned his players not to kid themselves about the problems that need addressing.

"We trained at our home ground this week and it was a useful exercise," he said. "We worked on aspects of the performance we thought we were a bit under-par with on Saturday and we want to improve because there are big games coming up.

"(At Newport) we gained territory in their half and I guess they had a lead to preserve so the emphasis was on us.

"We did get our middle-of-the-field passes off through Bryn (Morris) in particular and we took control at times with the ball without hurting them.

"There's no way we can be in denial. If you have that much territory and possession and deliveries into the box either the delivery's got to be better or the runs into the box have to meet the crosses and you need to get all the relevant bodies in there to be able to execute a finish.

"They're all the aspects we've worked on because it's not about always being extreme in our opinions straight after and ripping it up and undermining confidence.

"I wasn't happy with it at the time and as people have come to expect it's not always going to be a calm perception of things, it comes out when the emotions are high.

"But then we have to work on aspects with a rational and logical brain and there were certainly be aspects when you think we have to better in both boxes."

Chesterfield are a cultured side and Weaver is not in denial about their threat either.

"Even in the home game when we had a great result against them we knew we had to pay respect for them because they're very gifted on the ball,” he stressed.

"They have a large amount of possession, I think they're joint-fourth in all the EFL divisions for set-pieces (goals), so that's something we'll have to look at."

Encouragingly, Weaver believes he has options to change things, which has not always been the case.

"I look at the performance of people in training who are really banging down the door now,” he said. "It's great when people fight back and give me the options to tinker with the line-up or the shape if need be."