York City to take on one of the league’s best at Chesterfield
YORK City manager Neal Ardley sees Chesterfield as the ‘one of the best teams in the league’ and expects Paul Cook’s side to gain promotion this season.
Ardley’s side make the trip to Chesterfield on Tuesday, October 24 (7.45pm) to take on the current Vanarama National League leaders, hoping to replicate last season’s triumph in Derbyshire.
The City boss felt Chesterfield were unfortunate not to gain promotion last season, and talked on his relationship with the Spireites boss Cook.
“There’s no doubt that Chesterfield are, along with Barnet, one of the best teams in the league,” Ardley admitted.
“Someone asked me at the start of the season who I thought would win our league, and I said Chesterfield.
“They were unfortunate not to get promoted last season, they have an outstanding manager who knows how to get promotion and they’ve added quality players to a squad that was already one of the best in the league.
“It’s going to be tough, we know that.
“He’s (Cook) a great guy, we have a great laugh afterwards when we talk in the managers office.
“He talks so much sense, so much experience. He rang me when I left Wimbledon and when I left Solihull, somebody asked me at the start of the season who I thought would win the league and I said Chesterfield, because of him as manager.
“I thought they were the best team that didn’t get promoted last season, against Notts and Wrexham they had a tough task, and they nearly did it.
“They will be the favourites to go up.
“For me it’s exciting, because I’ve got to try and come up with a way to get something from the game and thwarting a good team.
“I have the players feeling the same, I said to them at the end of training today to be excited about the challenges.
“When results haven’t gone as well as we had hoped over the course of the season, you don’t know what frame of mind the players will be in.
If they can match my level of positivity then they will be right up for the game.
“I don’t for a minute think that we want to make the game nice and wide and open, because you look at Chesterfield and they are the highest scorers in the league, but they have conceded quite a few.
“We’ve got to get all parts of our game right, they will have energy because their game was called off at the weekend, but it’s no excuse in football.
“Go out there, roll your sleeves up and whatever the game plan is, try and execute it.
“They have to take a bit of responsibility for being brave enough to play when it’s on, knowing when it’s not on, getting their one-on-one defending, covering each other, helping each other and expecting each other to make a mistake.
“When it does get nitty gritty at both ends, be calm at one end and see off the danger at the other. “
Ardley also talked on the tactical preparations ahead of the game, and how much thought he has to put into each different opposition.
“You look at the shapes teams play and the way they try and work their shapes, it’s the first thing I look at when we play against an opposition.
“How are they going to cause us problems, what shapes are they going to play, where are their rotations and what have I got to make my players aware of their weaknesses, what type of team are they?
“You’ve got to look at all of these things when you think about how to find a way for your team to perform well and get something.
