As you read this, the north Derbyshire town of Chesterfield is gripped with ‘Cup fever.’ I know this because it says so on the official club website.

I also know this because I’ve seen grown men (many of whom should know better), buying (and wearing) blue and white jester hats. And I know this because just about every minibus, coach and people carrier in the county is booked up for the weekend.

Yes, it’s the big one. It’s the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy (JPT) final on Sunday and Chesterfield FC will play Swindon Town.

Nigh on 18,000 people will travel from in (and around) Chesterfield to Wembley Stadium to cheer on the boys in blue. It’ll be like the FA Cup Semi-final in 1997 all over again. Let’s just hope we don’t get ‘done’ by the referee this time.

The only problem is, I’m not feeling it.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m excited about seeing ‘Town’ play at Wembley. I’m looking forward to the day out. And the £400,000 that the club will have made from the JPT cup run will certainly come in handy. And, if we win, it’ll be a lovely journey home.

But I’m certainly not ‘gripped with Cup fever’.

Maybe it’s because I’m an exile, currently living in Leeds. Perhaps, as a journalist by profession, I am instinctively cynical. Or could it be because my eldest son spent three days in hospital this week with lymphadenitis?

Yes, it might be any of those things. But I suspect it is because Chesterfield are dead certs to get relegated from League 1 and I would happily swap the day out at Wembley for staying up.

JPT run aside, it’s been a pretty torrid season. They got off to a terrible start, improved briefly and then went 16 games without a win.

Things have improved since January when the defensive frailties were sorted.

Unfortunately, just as they started playing better, so did all of the other teams at the bottom of the league.

So, although results since Christmas look fairly respectable (P15 W4 D6 L5), the team currently lies six points from safety with eight games left and just 24 points to play for. If this form continues Town will be relegated on about 39 points.

JPT Final, what JPT Final?

On one hand, I give manager John Sheridan a lot of credit. Having captured the League 2 title last season, he could potentially deliver a second trophy in as many seasons if we win on Sunday.

If that does happen it’s a pretty impressive achievement considering that in its entire 146-year history Chesterfield Football Club in its many guises has only ever won six shiny pots (unless you want to include the Derbyshire Senior Cup or the Midland League).

It would also be notable from a personal perspective for Mr Sheridan as there are not that many current managerial CVs that can boast one trophy, let alone two.

I also think he did well to sort out the Spireites’ terrible defensive problems from earlier in the season by making some astute signings (not least the exemplary Neil Trotman who will be cup-tied on Sunday).

As far as I am concerned though he has made one vital error this year: he has underestimated the importance of having a decent centre forward.

We had Leon Clarke for a while (ironically, on loan at the time from Sunday’s opponents Swindon) and we have the inspiration that is Jack Lester.

Unfortunately the former started brightly then faded and the latter has spent most of the season injured.

We also have young Jordan Bowery who, to be fair, has been excellent since Christmas. But despite his newly found confidence, his pace and his 9 goals, he’s raw and still learning the game.

To understand the problem, simply look at the other teams in the division. The Spireites haven’t got a Jordan Rhodes or a Ched Evans or even a Shefki Kuqi, a Lee Miller or a Jeff Hughes. They’re all banging in the goals.

Even towards the bottom, Scunthorpe have benefitted from borrowing Jon Parkin from Cardiff, Yeovil have pulled clear thanks to Andy Williams’ goals and Wycombe have Charlton’s Paul Hayes and their own Stuart Beavon to thank if they stay up.

Meanwhile, Chesterfield FC are the lowest scorers at home in the division.

Last year, when the blues were not playing well, a centre-forward (usually Craig Davies) would score a goal out of nothing. It would bring belief and often points. This season, that simply hasn’t happened. And it’s been costly.

Although many will disagree, I am glad Sheridan hasn’t been sacked because I believe in being patient with managers. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that. But I wish he’d spent more time, money, effort or whatever was required bringing in a striker.

So, off we go to Wembley for the big game on Sunday. I’m excited. But I’d be a whole lot more so if we had a big, goal-hungry number 9 that we could rely on to get us out of trouble should we go a goal behind.

Cup fever eh? Let’s hope it’s contagious.

By Will Strauss.  As well as writing about his first love, Chesterfield FC, he is currently coming up with articles about fridge freezer spares for the Leeds-based appliances company ASD.

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