MANIC MONDAY
MACCLESFIELD TOWN v CHESTER
We preview all the Bank Holiday matches as the National League season enters its final month
JOHN ASKEY says Macclesfield can’t afford to get complacent tomorrow against relegation-threatened Chester after moving six points clear at the top.
The Silkmen netted two huge last-minute winners this week, first against Gateshead and then a thriller in the rain at Woking, to keep their title bid on track.
They gained an extra boost on Friday, too, as Sutton’s game at Maidenhead was abandoned at half-time with the U’s ahead.
Macc host Marcus Bignot’s Blues, who are highly likely to be lining up in the National League North next season now that they are ten points adrift of safety.
“As we saw against Woking, they are fighting for their lives, and Chester will be the same,” said Askey.
“We can’t take them lightly. We will have to start brighter than we did on Saturday where we struggled and went behind.
“If we start putting our chances away, we could win a game by four or five.
“It must have been a killer for Sutton, being 3-2 up and having the game abandoned, but we can only take care of our games and hopefully keep winning.
“If we do that then we’ll be champions.
“There’s six games to go and there will still be twists and turns yet.”
Chester’s problems deepened on Friday after they lost 2-0 at home to relegation rivals Torquay.
Bignot has been unable to turn their fortunes around since his appointment in September although hasn’t been helped by their welldocumented off-field problems.
The former Grimsby and Solihull manager knows they must produce a faultless performance if they are to come away from the Cheshire Derby with any points.
He said: “After our performance on Friday, naturally we need to improve to come away with three points. We couldn’t have chosen a tougher match against one of the form sides, and we must cut out the sort of apathy and lack of confidence we showed against Torquay otherwise we will be punished.
“There will be a good following for us at Moss Rose, and we must reward those fans with a positive and hopefully fruitful performance.”