But the goal came against the run of play, with the visitors clearly the better side in the opening 45 minutes before a defensive mix-up gifted Sharp the goal.
"We wanted to try and be adventurous and entertain a big home crowd, but in the first half it just did not happen for us," admitted Adkins, who had recalled Steve Torpey to the starting line-up for a three-pronged attack.
"But with a player like Sharp in your side you know you are never far away from a goal.
"We did much better in the second half but in the end this was a result we had to grind out.
"It's all about winning football matches and we have shown we can do that against a difficult Chesterfield side."
Chesterfield boss Roy McFarland felt his side had deserved to take something from the game, especially after their impressive first-half showing.
"We could have been two or three goals ahead by half-time," he said.
"We played some decent stuff at times but to lose a game to a goal like we did is scandalous. "