'Madness' cost Chesterfied in defeat to Halifax as promotion bid is delayed - reaction

The Spireites would have been promoted had they avoided defeat at The Shay.

They led 1-0 through Will Grigg but conceded three times before half-time to give them an uphill task.

But the Blues could still clinch the title and promotion on Saturday at home to Boreham Wood.

“I thought in the first-half we took our time getting used to the pitch,” Cook said. "We grew into the game, we looked dangerous, exciting, we scored a good goal. And we just have had a bit of madness that we have had in us all year, there is no point beating about the bush. We were disappointed going in at half-time, especially the third goal, because it gave us a mountain the climb.

"I thought were excellent in the second-half, I really enjoyed watching us, I think that is as good as we have played for a period of time. We created chances, we were strong, we switched play, we got balls in the box and we had big opportunities to score. Sadly, we have this achilles heel where we come away from that. I felt if we had nicked that third goal I felt we could have got that point that we all craved.”

"We are really disappointed because we had really good support. They have been amazing all year and now we look forward to game at our stadium on Saturday that we have all craved and clamoured for many years. It will be a vocal atmosphere, the TV cameras will be there and we are looking forward.”

When asked if the night gave him food for thought ahead of next season, Cook said: "I won’t even discuss next year. We are in this season and we should concentrate on this season. I don’t think that question is very fair on the players in a season where we are breaking records. We should be singing these lads’ praises and not speaking about next year. I am a big believer in what we do over a season rather than a week. We started the campaign wanting to get promoted and, as its stands, we are still very much in the driving seat.”

The pitch was a mudbath but it passed an afternoon inspection.

Cook said: "I think we took our time getting used to it. By the time we did, I felt we played it really well in the second-half. We were much more braver and that is what we spoke about at half-time.”

Tyrone Williams and Will Grigg went off injured in the second-half.

Cook added: “We will assess them right away. They don’t look great, to be fair.”