Daryl praise for ‘special group’
MACCLESFIELD Town head coach Daryl McMahon has described his team as a ‘special group of people’ for continuing to perform despite the ongoing uncertainty around the club.
The Silkmen returned to action for the first time in two weeks to draw 1-1 at Walsall on Saturday. Miles Welch-Hayes got the opener for the visitors, before Wes McDonald equalised later on for Walsall.
It was Macclesfield’s first league game since the players had their latest strike action after their wages failed to be paid on time once again.
With that in mind, McMahon has praised his players for their performance in the game, due to the factors that surrounded the fixture.
“We can only focus on the changing room and making sure we prepare ourselves the best we can. We’ve got a fantastic group of players and staff here,” he said.
“It’s a special group of people – we all work really hard, we’re dedicated to the club and to each other and that shows in our performances.
“We created numerous chances but didn’t manage to kill the game off. But the overall performance was very good. We could have been 2-0 or 3-0 up. For that first 60-70 minutes, I thought we were excellent.
“They had a lot of pressure but Walsall were a League One football club last year. It shows how far we have come as a team that we are disappointed with only a point.
“Our goalkeeper Owen (Evans) was different class too – I think in the next couple of years you are going to see him on TV playing for Wales and playing in the Premier League.”
It was the Silkmen’s fourth straight draw in the league, with the point leaving them in 15th place in the League Two table, two places above last weekend’s opponent Walsall.
While they’ve been able to go unbeaten over the last few games, Macc will hope they can return to winning ways on Saturday when they welcome Plymouth to the Moss Rose.
Plymouth are in eighth place in the division, two points outside the playoffs. They head into the match on the back of a win, after defeating Morecambe 3-0 at home last weekend.
Goals from George Cooper, Antoni Sarcevic and Conor Grant secured all three points.
It’s set to be the first league meeting between the two teams in nearly eight years, with the last game taking place at the Moss Rose back in February 2012.
They had to settle for a share of the spoils on that occasion, as George Donnelly scored an injury time equaliser for Macclesfield to prevent Plymouth from securing the victory, after Conor Hourihane had netted for the away side.