'Achilles heel' - Chesterfield manager Paul Cook gives his verdict on Notts County defeat

The Spireites were much-improved against the league leaders but had Jeff King sent off after the hour-mark with the score at 1-1 and Adam Chicken scored the winner just a few minutes later.

Armando Dobra had earlied cancelled out Macaulay Langstaff’s opener.

Cook said: “We have played really well but unfortunately one or two achilles heels keep appearing and as a manager that is something you have got to address over a period of time where you want to get stronger but Rome was not built in a day. The goals we conceded were too soft. I think we all know where the areas of the pitch that they came from and unfortunately it has got to change. Today I thought it was a good-bad day if you like. I thought we got a bit of credit back but now we have got to go to Aldershot and try and get a good performance.”

On the performance overall, Cook was pleased with the way they got after Notts.

He said: “We played well, I enjoyed the game, I thought it was a great advert for the league. I love teams being front-foot and aggressive and I knew today that is what you will get. The personnel in the team were probably picked correctly to play that. You have got to remember that different teams bring contrasting styles and Notts County allow you to do that. Woking and one or two other teams don’t allow you to do that because they are not really possession-based. The game probably panned out how we probably thought it would but I thought our lads came off the pitch with real credit.”

On the decision to send of King for two yellows, Cook continued: “I don’t feel we get a fair crack with any of the referees that come here, that is my honest opinion. I love consistently with referees and if they think that is being consistent, I don’t, but that is for another day.”

The defeat is Chesterfield fourth in a row and leaves them fifth in the table.

Cook said: “We are probably going to be in the play-offs now if everything goes smoothly. We have got to aim for that third spot. We have then got to keep recruiting well and keep changing players as we go along to make the squad stronger and better in the hope that even this season we can bounce back into the Football League because the club clamours it, the town clamours it, we are such a good football club, a proud club with proud supporters, and I am very proud to be here, trying my best to get them back in, because it would be the proudest day of my life to take this club back up.”

Cook finished by praising the fans.

He added: “The stadium today was rocking at times and that makes our lads run that extra yard.”