Inclusion of young attacker in Chesterfield squad against Ebbsfleet United explained

The 20-year-old earned himself a one-year deal at Chesterfield in the summer after impressing on trial. The former Ipswich Town attacker was a recommendation from Kieron Dyer.

Despite his bright outings in pre-season he had not been able to force himself into a matchday 16 until Saturday’s trip to Ebbsfleet United.

The youngster was an unused substitute so he is still waiting for his first appearance but it appears he is edging closer.

When asked by the DT about the decision, coach Danny Webb said it was a mix of his good work in training and tactical.

He explained: “I think the manager is very big on giving rewards to people and that is not being patronising to Harley as if he should be chuffed with being on the bench and not getting on – he wants to get on the pitch and play, of course he does.

"He has been training so well and sometimes as much as he (Paul Cook) does not want to change starting line-ups sometimes he just tinkers with the bench a little bit to keep lads feeling part of it and that is very important psychologically.

"It would have been nice if the game had been more comfortable and then we could have thrown him on because we felt that with his pace he could exploit their three at the back but we won the game without having to do that luckily.”

Curtis’ inclusion meant that Darren Oldaker dropped out but with the busy schedule coming up the midfielder could find himself back in again soon.

Webb added: "When you have got Saturday-Tuesday I think you might see a lot of that – players coming on the bench and off the bench and in and out of starting line-ups. We have got three on the trot of Saturday-Tuesdays now and we need to keep everyone happy and a part of it. A lot of the lads who were not involved today have been here today supporting the boys and we will need that team spirit to get over the line.”

Chesterfield are back in action on Tuesday night at home to Halifax.