Notts County booked their place in the League Two play-off final against Salford after hanging on for a nervy goalless draw in the second leg of their semi-final derby showdown with neighbours Chesterfield.

Jayden Luker's first-half winner at Chesterfield on Sunday is all that separated the two sides over 180 minutes and was enough to send the Magpies back to Wembley where they won the National League promotion final against the Spireites in 2023.

Notts goalkeeper James Belshaw, a lifelong Magpies fan who joined his boyhood club in January with the "dream" of helping them to promotion, made a decisive second-half save in the return leg at a sold-out Meadow Lane to keep Dilan Markanday from restoring parity in the semi-final showdown.

The visitors pressed endlessly for a tie-defining breakthrough, but Notts remained resolute in defence to overcome Chesterfield for the third time in the play-offs in six years.

Notts will now head to Wembley on Monday, 25 May to take on Karl Robinson's Ammies.

One place and one point separated the two teams in the table at the end of the regular season, and the first leg at Chesterfield five days earlier summed up just how close the East Midlands rivals have been to one another.

Captain Tom Naylor returned to the Spireites starting side as one of three changes made for the trip to Nottingham, while Magpies boss Martin Paterson stuck with the same XI that prevailed at the SMH Group Stadium.

It was a first half of nearly moments for both sides at Meadow Lane, with Chesterfield's James Berry having an early free-kick deflected wide, while a tame effort from the midfielder called Belshaw into action later in the half.

At the other end, Spireites defender Janoi Donacien made two crucial last-ditch interventions in his box before the break.

He first foiled Tom Iorpenda with a sliding challenge before going on to block a close-range effort from Luker that very nearly broke kindly for Alassana Jatta to pounce on.

The sublime first-touch control and finesse on the threaded pass from Jodi Jones to tee Iorpenda up for his glimpse of a chance was a snapshot of a high-quality first 45 minutes from the Magpies pair.

The second half got off to a more frantic start, with Notts' Luker squandering a huge chance to break the deadlock after being found by a perfectly placed low cross from Iorpenda, while it took a low reflex save from Belshaw to keep Markanday from squaring things up on aggregate.

Chesterfield's search for a way to extend their season went down to the final seconds, with Sil Swinkels meeting a hopeful cross at the back post with a header that called Belshaw into one final act.

Notts County head coach Martin Paterson told BBC Radio Nottingham:

"I would have been delighted beforehand with a 0-0, I'm not going to lie about that one.

"The game took a couple of turns. In the first half we had breakaway opportunities and I thought we should have taken them to put the game to bed.

"In the second half we had a golden one, and Jayden will score those in the future. He doesn't miss many of those.

"I know that Notts County fans are delighted to get to Wembley, and they probably won't like me saying Chesterfield were good, but I thought they were because when you are chasing something and you have nothing to lose, you can put as many bodies high as you want and you can take risks. And that is what happened in the last 20-odd minutes.

"We had to go into the pain cave, be resolute to defend and what I will say is two clean sheets in those two ties has me delighted with my defensive line - and that is the whole by the way.

"Salford will be another tough team with an experienced manager and a good outfit that will be pushing, like us, for promotion."

Chesterfield manager Paul Cook:

"First of all, thanks to the supporters – the support they have given us all season has been amazing. I so wanted us to score tonight to give them something to celebrate.

"I couldn't ask any more of the players tonight. But the whole game epitomised our season. And for me, I just wish Notts County well at Wembley. It's a tough league and it's a tough game.

"For us, we lick our wounds a little bit and move on. There hasn't been a lot between the teams as a rule anyway, so for us we had to make sure that Notts County had to defend tonight.

"I felt they got out of our ground too easy on Sunday and we lost it. But tonight I felt we were the better team and we did the club proud in relation to how we performed, but unfortunately we couldn't get that goal."