Coach Gary Roberts lauds Chesterfield players after win over Notts County

Chesterfield coach Gary Roberts heaped praise on the players after their 2-0 victory over Notts County, saying that he felt they won “in every department”.

Lee Bonis struck first with his sixth goal in as many games, pouncing on the rebound after Ronan Darcy’s effort had been saved.

The second goal came when County keeper Kelle Roos turned the ball into his own net following Liam Mandeville’s corner.

County failed to register an effort on target as Chesterfield drew level with them on points.

Roberts said: “I thought they were absolutely terrific, every single player involved today. There were so many good, strong performances out there.

“Big crowd, local rivals coming here, and I just thought they stood up to everything.

“We knew we could overload the middle of the pitch and I thought they played through the middle of the pitch perfectly.

“I thought we looked so fit, so strong. I felt like we won in every department today.”

Notts County head coach Martin Paterson was honest in his assessment of his team’s performance, saying that he felt Chesterfield “played the game better than us”.

Paterson said: “Really simply, if you don’t run hard, more so than your opponents, you don’t tackle in certain moments, and especially in the middle of the football field and high up when you’re pressing.

“If you don’t take the ball off them, and then when you do have it, you don’t connect passes, away at Chesterfield in this league is going to be a tough game for you.

“We’ve been really good at pressing, running and competing. I thought we came off that in a ridiculous amount today.

“I have to be honest, I don’t think we looked like really cutting them open and getting that final moment.

“But I think it’s more so a case of people taking responsibility in that final third and delivering those moments, maybe dribbling at someone and combining rather than just hopefully trying to hook a ball in.

“I just thought they played the game better than us and it looked like they were playing a derby. I thought we looked like we were surprised at the intensity of them. We shouldn’t have been.”