In preparation for their first round fixture, the Stags rested key players at the weekend in order to field their strongest possible side at Saltergate.

But even that strategy couldn't stop the Spireites from taking the lead immediately from the kick off. In true 'blink and you've missed it' fashion, Chesterfield had gone from the half way line to the back of the net in just a mere 10 seconds to gift Dave Bentley's side a dream start.

Craig Clay's directed pass forward caught the head of target man Jordan Burrow, who cleverly played in Jimmy Adcock. As the Chesterfield number eight beat the last defender to the ball with ease, it was just a matter of staying collective, which Adcock did to produce a superbly cool finish.

The move, along with the goal, seemed too easy for the Spireites, with the Stags lacking much of a fight to keep the blues at bay and that seemed to be the way for the early stages of the match.

Adcock continued to be an inconvenience for the visitors and came close to hitting the target again from a cleared Spireite attack.

Both of Chesterfield's strikers came agonisingly close to adding to the score line, with Burrow heading over and Ben Watkis latching on to a short pass that almost caught the goalkeeper out.

It took the Stags just under 25 minutes to test virtual spectator Scott Webb in the Chesterfield goal, as Nial O' Raffertey produced a rapid shot for Webb to clear for a corner.

Adcock had another effort on goal, but scuffed wide as the Spireites were now in full control of the match, with the Stags becoming second best of every tackle.

It was no surprise then, when on the half hour mark Chesterfield doubled their lead through Watkis after Tendayi Darikwa's shot was blocked. Marking his return back into the starting 11 after a brief spell out with a back injury, Watkis still showed killer instincts in front of goal as he followed up Darikwa's effort to finish the move in style.

Webb was called into action shortly after, but did well from a deadly free kick just outside the box to deny the Stags a goal scoring opportunity.

Despite the half time interval, Chesterfield showed no signs of letting their guard down and within three minutes of the restart the Spireites had found the back of the net once more.

Burrow and Clay combined well to play Watkis in to score his second of the night, with the superb strike matching Chesterfield's already superb performance.

Watkis, along with Burrow proved to be too much for the Mansfield defence to cope, and with both flanks attacking with freedom courtesy of Ryan Granger and Adcock on the left and Chris Tingay and Sam Smith on the right, the Stags were appearing to be a broken side.

Despite 20 minutes remaining, the tie looked all but certain to go Chesterfield's way until a clumsy tackle from centre half Matt Needham, which put a slight downer on the defender's performance at the back partnering Sandy Moller, who had also been like a rock, gifted the visitors with a penalty.

Webb was sent the wrong way by Raffertey to reward the visitors a small lifeline against the run of play.

A moment of deja vu seemed to occur from the kick off with Burrow crossing in Darikwa for a chance to score, but unfortunately the midfielder couldn't quite latch on to the cross.

Tingay and Smith's constant movement down the right flank gave the Stags defenders the run around and almost Tingay a goal.

Easily the move of the match, involving several Spireite players, ended with Tingay hitting a fantastic shot, which was matched by an equally fantastic save by Jordan Gleen who pushed the effort onto the bar.

Chesterfield did manage to top the night off in superb fashion with a fourth goal minutes from the end, when Smith's visionary pass picked out Adcock on the far right, who stroked the ball past the goalkeeper in terrific style.

Dave Bentley's side are now into the second round of all three cup competitions this season scoring 10 goals in total.

Chesterfield (4-4-2): Webb, Tingay, Granger, Clay, Needham, Moller, Smith, Adcock, Darikwa, Watkis (Hazel 66), Burrow

Subs Not Used: Beaglehole, Edridge, Handbury, Palmer

Goals: Adcock 1, 87, Watkis 30, 48

Spireites Reporting Team:  Adam Hulme and Phil Oddy