Chesterfield's Armando Dobra itching for season to start after Wembley heartache

While others are understandably enjoying putting their feet up after a long season, ‘Dobs’ is seemingly ready to return to playing.

The 22-year-old, who got 12 goals and four assists in 34 appearances in his first season at Chesterfield, is back on the grass doing some individual work.

A video uploaded to his Instagram account shows him being put through his paces by ‘private football performance specialist’ Luke Jones.

The footage shows him running between cones and poles, practicing his dribbling, his first touch, passing and finishing.

Luke also posted pictures of Dobra in action on his own Instagram, saying: “Solid first week complete with Armando Dobra. Analysed last year’s performances and identified areas to focus on. New targets set for 23/24. Time to work!”

Spireites assistant manager Danny Webb praised Dobra’s high standards last season, saying he is often ‘angry’ with himself even when he has played well, so the fact he has returned to training already will probably not come as a surprise to some.

And we all saw how much he loves playing football, when in the home against Halifax last season, he really didn’t want to come off despite having suffered a hamstring injury.

Like many of his team-mates, Dobra was visibly upset after the play-off final defeat at Wembley, a match he put Town 2-1 up in extra-time with a superb goal, so no doubt he will be using that disappointment as motivation this season.

Chesterfield’s National League season gets underway on August 5. So far they have arranged friendlies against Matlock Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United and Derby County.