Chesterfield are a 'juggernaut', says Gateshead manager after heavy defeat to Spireites

Town scored four times in the first-half, adding one more after the break, to secure an impressive 5-0 win and open up a nine-point lead at the top of the table. Will Grigg bagged a hat-trick, while Tom Naylor and Michael Jacobs also netted.

Gateshead had problems in the build-up to the game, losing five key players, and they didn’t arrive at the stadium until 7pm on Wednesday night. And the clinical Blues made light work of the play-off hopefuls.

Elliot said: "I am disappointed with the performance in the first-half. The situation is obviously not ideal. It was more of a case of getting a team together in the last six-seven days with the departures and everything. Players are coming in but with the resources we have got we can’t just go out and spend money and go and buy three-four players. We have to work really hard to bring players in.

"Football can be cruel sometimes so when you are in this situation to play Chesterfield away in the form they are in...they are just an absolute juggernaut for this league. It is a pity because it is a fixture we were really excited for and looking forward to previously.

"It was a bit of a baptism of fire for a few of our lads coming back in, but I genuinely think it will stand them in good stead. One bad defeat is not going to define us especially against what is ultimately a juggernaut in this league. I think two or three of their players are worth more than our entire squad in terms of our yearly budget for the whole club. That is not an excuse for the reason we lost, it is just putting it into perspective."

Chesterfield have now won 15 home games on the spin in all competitions. They have a handsome lead at the top and they still have two games in hand.

Elliot added: "I thought the second-half was a lot better in the way we played, we relaxed a bit more, it was still not at the levels we wanted it to be, but under the circumstances I am never going to criticise the lads in terms of their effort and work-rate. Unfortunately it was too big a gulf tonight with the situation we are in and coming to Chesterfield.”