Chesterfield winger Dilan Markanday has set his sights on promotion to League One after joining the club for the second time.
The 23-year-old arrived at the SMH Group Stadium last summer on a season-long loan from Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers. He impressed during the first half of the campaign, contributing seven goals and three assists in 24 appearances.
This led to speculation that his parent call may exercise their recall option in January, with then manager John Eustace admitting in November that it was a possibility. The attacker did indeed end up returning to Ewood Park, although he was then given a chance to showcase his ability in a higher division with Leyton Orient.
Markanday enjoyed a bright start at Brisbane Road, scoring two and assisting one in his first three games. However, by the end of the season he had lost his place and was an unused substitute in the O’s play-off final defeat against Charlton Athletic.
A change of guard at Blackburn led to his release, where he rejoined Chesterfield on a three-year deal.
Markanday Targeting Promotion
Having now found a permanent club where he is likely to gain regular minutes, Markanday is looking forward to avenging last season’s heartbreak. Chesterfield also missed out in their own play-off, albeit at the semi final stage following a 4-1 aggregate defeat against Walsall.
Via The Derbyshire Times, the former Tottenham Hotspur youngster said:
“We all want the club to go forward, and I think we can do that.
“The club is moving in a really good direction and has everything needed to push forward, I want to be a part of it. I watched the semi-finals and we were so close, we can go one further this season.
“It was a tough finish for me at Orient, but sometimes you have to go through those things to come back on top.
“Hopefully I can use that experience as motivation to go for success here.”
Writer’s View
Chesterfield supporters were delighted to see the return of Dilan Markanday after his excellent loan spell last season. There is a genuine optimism that they will be one of the teams to beat next season and their summer activity so far has been good. Aside from perhaps MK Dons, there doesn’t appear to be a standout team in League Two and the Spireites have a fantastic opportunity to snatch one of those all-important top three spots.
