Chesterfield assistant manager Danny Webb praised his side’s defensive display after Armando Dobra’s early goal gave them a 1-0 victory over AFC Wimbledon to make it four wins in a row.
Dobra struck in the third minute, beating goalkeeper Owen Goodman with a cushioned volley after meeting Liam Mandeville’s cross.
Webb said: “We knew we would have to defend today. They have to show courage and the supporters helped us get over the line towards the end.
“They played quite an unusual brand with three up front. It’s a very simple but effective way of playing and we dealt with everything they threw at us.
“It was all hands to the pump and sometimes those wins mean more. I probably had the same emotion as I had after the Grimsby game. They were the sort of wins you need to be in the top seven in the Football League.
“We went into the changing room and it’s packed with injured players. We are aware of the fact that we have got too many injured players.
“It looks like Ryan Colclough has done his calf quite bad, similar to Paddy Madden. ‘Griggy’ (Will Grigg) felt a bit tight as well because he ran his socks off as usual.
“The gaffer (Paul Cook) gave a bit of a siege mentality speech to the players, saying they’ve got to find it within themselves to get through the Christmas period and run probably harder than they’ve ever run before. To a man, they were absolutely brilliant.”
Wimbledon manager Johnnie Jackson felt his side should have at least taken a point from the game after creating chances and having good spells of possession.
He said: “We didn’t win duels or enough headers. We need to be smarter, especially away from home.
“They had the wind with them, that definitely helps. So maybe that played a part too, but we finished the first half quite strong and then took it to them in the second half.
“It was just one of those days really. I think we’ve got enough time to go on and win it. They’re hanging on at the end. Obviously, they’re going to have to save at the end. We take a point then. We were on top the whole second half.
“We haven’t got the luxury of being able to make loads of changes, so a lot of those boys are going to have to go again for the Boxing Day game. We can tweak a couple of different little things.
“We have just got to dust ourselves down and go again and recover properly. Not eat too much for Christmas Day and be ready for Boxing Day.”
