Page says Cobblers will be well prepared for Chesterfield challenge

Unbeaten Town go into the game off the back of two home wins against teams renowned for their patient, passing game in Milton Keynes Dons and Walsall, but Page expects something a little different against Danny Wilson’s men.

The Cobblers manager has welcomed the free week his team have had ahead of the game, saying that has given him and his staff the chance to ready themselves for what is to come against the Spireites, who are managed by the experienced Danny Wilson.

“I know Danny, and I know Chris Morgan (first team coach), so they will be well organised and hard-working, which comes as standard in football in my opinion, and they have quality to hurt you as well,” said Page.

“They are different opposition to what we have faced in the last two games, so we will have a plan for that and work on it in training. The good thing is we haven’t got a midweek fixture so we can get a lot of work done before Saturday.

“We have had Chesterfield watched, the staff have watched videos ourselves, and we will have a plan going into Saturday as to how we can win it.”

Chesterfield have endured a mixed start to the season, and haven’t won a league game since a 2-0 victory over Walsall on August 16.

They currently sit 14th in Sky Bet League One, three points behind eighth-placed Northampton, but Page knows any side managed by Wilson will be a difficult proposition.

“Danny has been an exceptional manager over the years, and he has a wealth of experience,” said the Town boss.

“He knows how to win games of football, so we know we are in for a tough game.

“But we have experience and quality in our dressing room too, and we have shown that of late, and we have to take that confidence into the weekend.

“Again, it is about what we do and maintaining the levels of performance we have shown.”

Page will be returning to familiar territory at the Proact, having been a player there in the twilight of his career.

Indeed, his final game as a professional was for the Spireites at the Proact in November, 2010, and it was a 2-1 defeat to Oxford United.

But the Welshman says that although his stay at Chesterfield ended on a somewhat sour note, he has fond memories of his time in Derbyshire.

“I had two or three years at Chesterfield and had some good times with John Sheridan as manager,” said Page, who played 63 times for the club.

“We got promoted from two to one, but unfortunately we got relegated the season after, but I have good memories of my time there.

“We left Saltergate at the end of that season and went into the new stadium, and it is a great little football club with a great fanbase.

“It was frustrating towards the end because I ended my career there, but realistically I knew I wasn’t going to play every game.

“Shez rightly made changes and brought in some younger central defenders, and they went on to get promoted again.

“Shez was brilliant with me, and if there was the opportunity to do a little bit of coaching with some of the lads that hadn’t travelled for games, then he would give me the responsibility of that.

“That gave me the bug and incentive to go on, and I knew coaching an area I wanted to go into.

“Micky Adams then took me as youth team coach at Port Vale, and it was because of what happened at the end of my playing days that made me realise I wanted to be in this industry, and in coaching.”

The Cobblers are likely to name an unchanged team for the trip up the M1.