FA Cup Upsets Show 'Just How Strong National League Is'

The Chesterfield manager showered his players with praise as the leaders stunned unbeaten League One table-toppers Portsmouth in front of the nation on Sunday.

Tom Naylor, pictured, headed the only goal to spring a big shock by dumping Cook's former club out - and it wasn’t the only big headline written over the first round weekend.

Moments after the victory, the manager learned his club will host Leyton Orient next month after the second round draw was made.

He says the strength of the division is enabling more clubs to thrive as he quickly turned his attention back to the league, with Chesterfield’s huge first vs second clash with Barnet fast approaching.

“You can’t get away from how good the result is,” he told ITV Sport. “Especially as a National League team, but it just demonstrates how strong the division is now.

“Going back to Chesterfield I told people how good the coaches are, how big the clubs are and how much fitter the teams now are.

“The days of ‘Non-League’ sides in this league are gone, it’s a really strong division, and this is such a great result for us.

“We had to work our socks off and our lads deserved it. I felt it was our day and we’ll enjoy it. We’ll move onto the second round and we’ll keep going with our challenges, as well as wishing my old club Portsmouth well with theirs.”