Go out in blaze of glory
MACCLESFIELD have been urged to go out ‘all guns blazing’ in their last-gasp bid to land a Conference play-off place.
The Silkmen’s hopes of finishing in the top six have dimished with John Askey’s men nudged down to six place by Eastleigh and Forest Green.
They must beat the Gulls at Plainmoor on Saturday – and hope results go their way elsewhere – to stand a chance of promotion back to the Football League.
Goalkeeper Rhys Taylor, who saved a penalty in Saturday’s 2-0 win against Dartford, insists it’s win or bust.
“I’d rather lose than go out with a whimper and draw. We’ve got to go there and throw everything at it,” said the 25-year-old.
“If you’ve got to win then you’ve got to win, there is no point drawing. We’ve got to go there with the mentality of ‘we have to beat Torquay’, and if we lose, so be it, but we will go out with all guns blazing, not with a whimper,”
And boss Askey said he was pleased to go into the final game with promotion to League Two still a possibility.
“We’re still in there and to say that we’ve got to the last game of the season with something to play for is incredible really, so I’m pleased. I can’t ask for any more after what the players have done,” he said.
“We had a little bit of a blip but we had a blip when we were playing well. We’ve won games we shouldn’t have and towards the end of the season when we’ve played some good stuff, things haven’t quite gone for us but we’re still in there and it’s all to play for.”
While there is so much riding on the outcome of this weekend’s fixture, Askey said preparations would be no different.
“Preparation is exactly the same, it has worked for us so far this year so we’ve just got to keep things going and make sure that the players don’t switch off,” he said. “When you’ve got a game that you’ve got to win, I’m sure they won’t.”
A late red card for George Pilkington in the victory against Dartford has ruled the centre back out of the Torquay trip plus both legs of the potential play-off semi-final.