Chesterfield assistant manager Danny Webb admitted his side lacked quality in the 1-1 draw with Colchester.
United opened the scoring in the sixth minute through Jack Payne’s close-range strike, but Will Grigg equalised in the second half with his sixth goal in five games.
It was a frustrating performance from Chesterfield as they had many chances in the second half to grab three points.
Webb said: “Overall, it was quite a positive performance and ticked a lot of boxes in terms of how we wanted the boys to play, but the execution was missing slightly tonight.
“There was missed chances, numerous disappointing corners that missed the front man, or when the cross wasn’t cut back to the right person.
“There was a real frustration tonight. I’m happy to get the draw, but very frustrated.”
Chesterfield missed the chance to move into the top seven.
Webb said: “Yeah, I know we missed out on play-offs tonight, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“I think we’re all very frustrated, especially the bench, on the first half. A lot went on, but we need to respect them (Colchester) and respect the point. We are still unbeaten (at home).”
Webb was disappointed with the early goal conceded.
“We should have done better there. It should have been cleared earlier,” he said.
“One thing we can’t criticise is the lads’ effort. Colchester as well, they worked their socks off, but it was our final touch tonight that ruined it and we could have scored two or three tonight.”
Colchester manager Danny Cowley was content with his team’s performance.
He said: “I thought we were good overall, but we were up against a strong Chesterfield team. Credit to them, they are the best team we’ve played this year.
“We had a positive start. Great ball from Oscar (Thorn) and a brilliant finish by Jack in the bottom corner. They (Chesterfield) had a lot of the ball in the first half but without really hurting us.
“Before the goal in that second-half period, they didn’t have one shot and we had good control of the game, but their crowd got behind them and gave them the momentum to score the goal.
“We had to dig in and we defended for our lives in the latter part of the game.
“They overloaded us in the middle, and they did well in their positional play, which created overload opportunities. They are a top team, for sure.”
