'Lack of presence will be felt' - Notts County boss believes Chesterfield will 'miss' Paul Cook on touchline

Cook, who admitted the FA charges, was handed a two-match ban and fined £350 after being sent off against Scunthorpe United on Boxing Day.

He was in the stands against West Brom on Tuesday night and he will be again this weekend for the visit of the league leaders.

Ahead of this weeked’s huge clash, Williams said that he would ‘prefer’ Cook to be on the touchline because it is a ‘pleasure’ to be in the opposite dugout.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Williams said: “I think his group will certainly miss him, that is for sure, from the touchline. Honestly, I think my staff will miss him as well because he is a great guy, it is actually a pleasure to be in the opposite dugout, I have been lucky enough to do it a couple of times with Cooky. If it will make a huge difference I don’t know. But one thing for sure is that his lack of presence will be felt because he is a big personality and he has a rapport with his team from the touchline in a great way.

“Genuinely, I would prefer him to be there, it feels right that he should be there and leading his team. There is no way that it is going to have such an effect to a degree that it will swing the game in one way or the other. Yeah, maybe in one or two moments he might be able to have a better influence from the touchline, but his staff and himself will be in contact and be able to make any changes. I think it is a bit of a shame for the game, to be honest.”

Chesterfield go into the much-anticipated fixture in fourth, 13 points behind Notts, but with four games in hand.

The Spireites and the Magpies played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Meadow Lane at the start of the season and Williams says his side will have to be at their best to get a result.

He added: “I think it resembled a League One game rather than a National League game and with the quality that Chesterfield have I can’t imagine it is going to look any different because both teams are very competitive and full of quality. We need to make sure we are at the top of our game to play in this one.”