BLACKPOOL fans may not have been best pleased with their teams performance against the Spirites but Steve McMahon was.

The Blackpool boss said, "I have been begging my defence to keep a clean sheet and after 17 games they've finally managed it."

In fact the only other clean sheet Pool have achieved this season came right at the start away at Bournemouth which means this result against Chesterfield is the first home tie that Pool haven't conceded.

With a few players back from the dreadful injury crisis of last week, Steve McMahon named a more familiar squad.

There were two changes to the starting 11, striker Graham Fenton and defender Stephen Caldwell replaced Mike Milligan and Phil Thompson with Richie Wellens and Tommy Jaszczun making returns on the bench.

The first half was pretty dire and despite a bright opening nothing separated the sides at half time.

The closest Pool got to opener was when Paul Simpson hit the bar after the ball spilled to him at the edge of the box.

Chesterfield offered little themselves and a string of corners was as close as they got.

The second half was a bit more lively and the breakthrough for Blackpool came after 70 minutes.

After shaking off an ankle injury which nearly saw him substituted, Brett Ormerod did brilliantly to round two defenders and place the ball past the Chesterfield keeper.

However before the ball crossed the line, Graham Fenton tapped in to make sure but although on paper it was a Fenton goal, the Seasiders opener was all due to Ormerod.

Neither side picked up at the end and so Fentons goal was the only and deciding winner.

The game was nowhere near as good as Blackpool can be, but after a frustrating away game at Wrexham, the three points were much more important than the performance.

The Seasiders now have two tough games coming up, starting with top of the table Brentford next Saturday followed by in-form Stoke the following Tuesday.

BLACKPOOL:

Pullen, Parkinson (Jaszczun 55), Reid, Caldwell, Coid, Bullock (Wellens 77), Jamie Milligan, O'Kane, Simpson, Ormerod, Fenton.

Subs Not Used: Barnes, Thompson, MacKenzie. Booked: Coid, O'Kane.

CHESTERFIELD:

Abbey, Breckin, Booty, Payne, Richardson (Jones 90), Ebdon, D'Auria, Reeves, Edwards, Moore (Parrish 72), Beckett.

Subs Not Used: Richmond, Ingledow, Hitzlsperger.

Booked: Richardson, Breckin, Payne, Parrish.

Att: 5,395

Ref: G Frankland (Middlesbrough).

RESULT: Blackpool 1-0 Chesterfield

Fenton (70)

Att: 5395