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Matlock Town boss Mark Atkins is calling for a repeat performance in Friday's game with Derby County, after watching his side's valiant effort against Chesterfield.

Atkins was delighted by his players' fitness and intelligent play on Tuesday night, despite Chesterfield eventually winning 3-2.

He said: "I am very pleased as we played well. We held Chesterfield for about an hour until tiredness kicked in, but we put in a good performance and our fitness levels were actually very good.

"They had first-teamers playing in both halves, but their second-half team would not have been out of place in a League Two game."

He was particularly pleased with how his players stuck to the game plan they had been set.

"Our ball retention has improved and we managed to keep it on the floor. We don't want to hoof the ball around as we have got the players now to do more than that.

"In our league, you can chase and close down to get the win, but against full-time teams they will just play around you. We had to focus on keeping our shape.

"So we had to play a bit differently, then look to get the ball down and play whenever we could.

"We'll be looking to do the same again on Friday. It's a good game for us and it will be another big test."

Derby County brought a mixture of under-23 players and first team stars for last year's pre-season friendly and Atkins expected to face a similar side this year.

"Nigel (Clough) will always want to bring a good side. I probably won't play the same team as on Tuesday night. Others will be given their chance."

The manager has been casting his eye over seven trialists this month, with midfielder James Knowles impressing coaching staff and fans with some quality touches in the Teversal and Chesterfield games.

"James has come in and is doing well. We had been in contact before, but now we've got him in for these two games and he's done very well.

"We are hopeful we can get him signed up, but he's only been here for five days and after next Tuesday's game against Sutton we'll look into that more.

"We'll definitely be trying to get James to sign.

"I think I'll offer most of the trialists something and it's up to them to then get into the team.

"All of them will play 90 minutes either on Friday against Derby or on Tuesday against Sutton."

After two wins over lower opposition and the tight defeat to Chesterfield, Atkins was keen to keep his players' feet on the ground ahead of the Rams' visit to Causeway Lane and the kick-off of the league season against Stocksbridge on August 21.

"We have changed a few things so it is now just a case of getting them on board and we still have a few things we have still to work on in training.

"The main thing will be when we step out on the pitch against Stocksbridge," he added.