Askey calls for the Right Stuff
MACCLESFIELD Town manager John Askey will be looking for his players to prove they are made of the Right Stuff when they take on Dover at the Moss Rose on Friday evening
Askey said he had found out a lot about some of his squad after their 3-0 defeat against Gateshead at the weekend.
The Silkmen were easily brushed aside in the game, with Fraser Kerr, Jordan Burrow and Jordan Preston getting the goals for Gateshead.
Macclesfield boss Askey was disappointed with how the match unfolded, and admitted it is now his responsibility to try and fix the issues.
“We’re starting to see what the players are made of and what they’ve really got now, and it’s up to me to sort it out,” he said.
“We never really got going and didn’t really cause them any problems in the second half. It’s disappointing as we were hit on the break for the first goal and then they scored again just before halftime, so that’s a bit of a killer. For one of their goals the linesman gave offside and then retracted it. I don’t know why, but sometimes you get those decisions and sometimes you don’t. You can’t rely on referees and we’ve got to do better. We’ve got to score goals and make sure we keep them out.
“It was disappointing. I’ve been pleased with the attitude in the start of the season but against Gates- head it wasn’t good enough. We’ve got to work hard in training and we’ll go again on Friday against Dover.”
Askey is now calling on the Macclesfield players, both young and old, to bounce back from the defeat and respond in a positive way.
“It’s up to everybody. They’ve all got to stand up and be counted, whether they’re young or old,” he said.
“They’ve got to prove they’re good enough to be in the team and they’ve got to do their jobs when they’re asked to do. If they can’t then they’ll be looking over their shoulders.
“Nobody goes out there and performs badly on purpose. Everybody obviously wants to do well and hopefully that will be the case on Friday against Dover.
“We’ll go out there with the right attitude and will be doing all we can to try and get the victory.”
The defeat against Gateshead left Maccles- field 18th in the National League table, having won just one of their opening five games.
Dover have started the campaign well, sitting in fifth place after winning three of their five matches, though they were held to a 1-1 draw with Barrow on Saturday.
Macclesfield will be hoping for a similar result to when the two teams last met at the Moss Rose, with the Silkmen picking up a 2-1 victory in January.
Two goals from Chris Holroyd helped the hosts come from behind in the game, after Jamie Grimes had originally given Dover the lead.
Victory for Macclesfield on Friday would see them temporarily climb to 11th in the table, though the rest of the teams then play on Saturday.
A defeat against Dover could mean Askey’s side finish in the relegation zone by the end of the weekend.
Friday’s game kicks off at 8.45pm.