Alfie Pond is building his experience at Chesterfield after making his first start for the club last weekend. The 22-year-old defender spoke to the club's media ahead of the trip to face Oldham Athletic.
Pond joined as a summer signing and got his first minutes from the bench before being handed a starting role. "Obviously I was really happy to get my first chance and my first start, and I thought for the majority I did alright," he said.
Building partnerships
The centre-back played a lot alongside Jack Simpson during pre-season as the defensive unit took shape. He acknowledged the greater experience of Simpson and fellow defender Kyle McFadzean, who have many more senior games under their belts. Pond is the seventh club of his young career and had a spell of regular football on loan last season, but he has not yet experienced a full schedule of Saturday-Tuesday matches.
He has been working under manager Paul Cook since his arrival. Pond believes the squad is developing well together. "I think we are in a really good place," he stated. "Everyone is building relationships, building partnerships and I only think this group is going to get stronger and stronger."
League context
Chesterfield go into the Oldham fixture sitting 12th in the League Two table with 8 points from their opening six matches. Their recent form reads two wins, two draws and one loss from the last five.
The team has scored 8 goals and conceded 8 so far this season, leaving them with a neutral goal difference. They are four points behind early leaders Barnet in the title race. Pond and his defensive colleagues will be aiming to tighten things up as the campaign progresses. The full squad list is available on our squad page.
Pond's next challenge is to establish himself as a regular option in Cook's plans as Chesterfield look to climb the table. His first start was a step towards that goal.
