Play-off place by new year: Askey
MACCLESFIELD Town manager John Askey has set his side a target of establishing themselves among the play-off places before the end of the year.
The Silkmen had a mixed start to the National League campaign but have seen their form pick up in recent weeks.
With that in mind, Askey hopes they can build on those performances and be contenders for promotion by the New Year.
“Last season I think it was around Christmas time when we reached the play-off positions so if we can do that again I’ll be pleased,” he said. ‘’ We need to keep up more of the same performances though.
“If we play full games like our first half showings in the last couple of matches then there is no reason as to why we can’t keep getting three points.”
As the Express went to print, Macclesfield were set to host Gateshead at the Moss Rose on Tuesday.
Askey’s side travel to Dover this weekend with a number of players in contention after returning from injury.
It means there is again competition for places in the starting line-up, and Askey admits he has a selection headache.
“When players like Kristian Dennis and previously Paul Turnbull get the injuries they’ve suffered it’s key not to rush them back into it with calf injuries,” he said.
‘’Kristian came back on Saturday and it showed with good effect after he had two good chances.
We managed to get the win against Kidderminster and that means players do have to play for their place now.’’
Last weekend’s 2-1 win made it three straight victories for Askey’s men, but he felt the result should have been easier.
“It was a dominant performance but obviously I’m a bit disappointed as we had to battle when the game should’ve been out of sight,” he said.
‘’I’m disappointed we didn’t score from free play with how much we had the ball, but saying that we
‘Hopefully we’ll learn from the mistakes we made but if you look at how we played, we deserved to win’
have worked on our set pieces and that clearly showed and at the end of the day it got us the three points.
“Hopefully we’ll learn from the mistakes we made in the second half but if you look at the game and how we played, again we deserved to win.”
While it may have been a home match against Kidderminster, Askey revealed that the playing surface at the Moss Rose doesn’t benefit his side.
“When the pitch doesn’t enough water it can get sticky.
“I’m not making excuses but that doesn’t suit us,” he said.
“You could see away at Guiseley that playing there helped our play, but against Kidderminster the longer the game went on it stopped us being able to pass as quickly as we’d have liked.”