Spireites Defeated in Fourth Consecutive Fixture.

Chesterfield fell to their fourth consecutive defeat against Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium on Friday night, with Calum Butcher's first-half strike acting as the difference between the two sides.

Danny Wilson made two alterations for this particular encounter, as Gboly Ariyibi and Rai Simons took the places of Lee Novak and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.

In the opening moments, Drew Talbot broke free before producing a driven cross which failed to reach a fellow member of the attack. Jay O'Shea took up free-kick duties and tried his luck from range, only to watch his powerful effort sail straight into the stands.

Inside the Spireites' penalty area, Liam O'Neil performed a block with his head and left proceedings in a neck brace as an unfortunate consequence. Mark Duffy evaded his marker and produced a low cross, which was eventually cleared by the resolute Sam Hird.

Connecting with O'Shea's driven free-kick created a valuable headed opportunity for Hird, which the defender failed to take as the ball sailed narrowly wide of the post. Butcher took matters into his own hands with a half-volley that failed to trouble Tommy Lee, who then readied himself for a goal-kick.

Just before the half-time whistle, Butcher opened the scoring after received possession inside the area and firing into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

After the break, Simons connected with Tom Anderson's low delivery on the six-yard line and watched his attempt evade the crossbar by a matter of inches. Talbot found space on the edge of the area and prepared to shoot, only for the defender's strike to be saved with ease by Ian McLaughlin.

Waiting inside the area, Emmanuel Dieseruvwe aimed to connect with a driven delivery from Ollie Banks but an opposing defender reacted quickest to clear the danger. Talbot crossed from deep towards Ariyibi, but the American is not renowned for his aerial prowess and ultimately failed to connect.

Picking up possession and turning unchallenged allowed Stuart Beavon the opportunity to shoot from range, but Lee stood firm and performed a routine save to his right-hand side. For the full four minutes of additional time, the Spireites continued to push but to no avail and fell to their fourth consecutive defeat.