Macc ready to combat leaders

MACCLESFIELD Town manager John Askey insists form means nothing in the National League ahead of this weekend’s match against league leaders Forest Green.

The top of the table side have been dominant so far this season, opening up a healthy lead over the rest of the division.

Macc are underdogs heading into the match, but Askey insists all that matters is how the team perform during the 90 minutes.

“I think in every game we go into it’s all about how we perform on the day,” he said.

“If we perform well we know we can give anybody a game in this league. It’s going to be tough but we will roll our sleeves up and have another go.”

The Silkmen suffered a 1-0 defeat at Bromley on Saturday, with Ben May’s second-half strike enough to separate the two sides.

Macc were then set to take on Cheltenham Town at Whaddon Road on Tuesday as the Express went to print.

Despite the loss last weekend, Askey was pleased with what he saw from his team and felt there were plenty of positives to take from the fixture.

“I was happy with how we performed as we created a lot of chances. I thought the whole team did well so I’ve not got any complaints,” he said.

“We looked as though we were going to score but every effort seemed to just hit the keeper. We were done by the sucker punch but we had the majority of the play.

“In the second half they had one chance and scored it, so it’s bitterly disappointing to come away with nothing.

“Our finishing could’ve been a little bit better. Even at the end with Kristian Dennis, you would back him to score and he pulled it when it was a simple chance, but the positive is that we played well.”

The Macclesfield defence managed to keep Bromley’s star striker Alex Wall quiet, which again impressed Askey.

“He was taken off before they scored so he didn’t cause us a great deal of problems,” he said.

“He’s a problem because he puts himself about, but I can’t really remember him making a chance.”

Forest Green were victorious last weekend, defeating Southport 2-1 at home thanks to goals from Aaron O’Connor and Keanu Marsh-Brown.

They were then set to face Woking at the Kingfield Stadium on Tuesday.