27-10-23. Kidderminster Harriers Vs Chesterfield. Match preview

Preview: Phil Lench

In what has to be our biggest game of the season Chesterfield arrive at Aggborough on Saturday for the first time since our maiden season in the Football League twenty three years ago. We only met them in the league for that one season and they finished up in third place, and promotion, while we stayed safe in sixteenth place. The Spiretites were in illustrious company in that promotion season with Brighton & Hove Albion and Cardiff City also gaining promotion. Here’s the table from our historic season: 2000-01 season final table

Following that promotion they eventually reached League 1 but lost out in the play-offs to Preston North End in 2015 and then became a yo-yo club getting relegated then promoted many times until finally losing their league place and dropping into non league football in 2018. During their time down here they appointed the former Harriers manager John Pemberton to help them in their return but he could only help them to avoid a further relegation to the National North.

They now come back here for a game that sees both clubs at different ends of the table and also in differing levels of form. Chesterfield at the top while we’re down in twenty second place.

We are trying hard to get up the table but we’re finding it very hard to compete with our lack of quality where it matters: all over the park. On Tuesday evening we picked up a fortuitous 1-1 draw at Altrincham where we went into a, possibly, too early lead and then spent the rest of the game in backs to the wall mode.

Minutes before that game we announced the loan signing of Ryan McLean (why leave it till that late when he must have signed for us well before seven o’clock) but he went onto the bench and didn’t take any part in the game. He’s a familiar face for us having played at Hereford FC for a three seasons but now belongs to AFC Wimbledon where he’s struggling to get a game. Hopefully we might be able to see what he can do for us tomorrow.

One we won’t be seeing is Bailey Hobson due to him not being able to play against his parent club. His loan was supposed to end this week but he’s still with us as a photo today shows him at the gym with the others so he may be staying. I wonder if we’ll get told?*

We still have the usual missing faces, and you know who they are by now, but there is one less. At Altrincham we had Matt Preston on the bench and that can only be a good thing in our survival quest as long as he stays in one piece for a little longer this time.

It’s going to be a good game tomorrow in front of our biggest attendance of the season that almost certainly won’t be bettered unless we get into the play-offs. The Spireites have sold out their allocation of tickets but hopefully we won’t be outnumbered and around 4000 sounds about right.

A nice home win would be even ‘righter’.

* STOP PRESS: Confirmed later that he’s staying until January.

Photo © AFC Wimbledon

Referee: Mr David McNamara. Preston

Talk about the game here

Links to Chesterfield websites here

Find Pubs around Kidderminster here