Askey’s upbeat on new arrivals
MACCLESFIELD Town manager John Askey is confident that there will be a number of new signings joining the club in the coming days.
The Silkmen are currently preparing for the next National League season, with a number of their current players signing new deals to remain with the club for the next 12 months.
Winger Jack Mackreth also returned to Macclesfield earlier this week after signing on a one-year deal following his departure from league rivals Tranmere Rovers.
Askey now expects more players to arrive soon and has been happy with the progress the club have made compared to previous years.
“This year has been a progression for the football club,” he said. “Normally at this stage of the summer we haven’t got any players signed up, so things have definitely improved and hopefully they can continue to improve,” he told the club’s official website.
“We’re now hoping to have two or three more signed in the next few days and then it is a case of assessing what players become available.
“In the past we have done quite well with that, but instead of looking for 20 new players we will only be looking for five or six.
“Things at the football club are looking very good and hopefully we can gel a team together early on because we’re in the better position at this stage of the summer than we have been for a long time. That is all credit to everybody who has worked really hard behind the scenes.
“There seems to be a lot interest around the town in the football club at the minute and people are starting to come back and support us. That is really helping us, and hopefully it can continue.”
One area that Askey will be looking to strengthen before the start of the new campaign is his forward options.
This season’s leading goalscorer Kristian Dennis left after the end of his loan deal and has now joined League One side Chesterfield, while Reece Styche has also departed.
It means that the Silkmen currently only have Jack Sampson and Chris Holroyd as recognised forwards in the squad.
With that in mind, Askey hopes that he can bring in another striker before the new campaign gets underway.
“The forward area is the one position that is obviously is the most difficult to fill. In previous years we have done quite well at finding a striker who has done well, but these are the players who cost the most money so it isn’t always easy,” he said. “But there are one or two players out there who I would like to get, and if they can come off then hopefully they will be successful.”
‘Things have definitely improved and hopefully that can continue’