Silkmen raring to go – Watson
MACCLESFIELD Town assistant manager Steve Watson reckons the side is raring to go ahead of this weekend’s National League opener against Torquay United.
The Silkmen have had a busy pre-season schedule, ending when they defeated Stockport County 2-0 on Saturday in with their final friendly of the summer.
Macclesfield now turn their attention to the competitive action, and Watson is confident that the players are up to speed.
“Physically we’ve done the work, we’ve played six tough games with a relatively small squad,” he told the club’s official website.
“We’ve had help from the lads that have come in on trial and that’s been good, we needed that.
“The players would’ve been far too fatigued to have played six games at 90 minutes.
“Now it’s the sharpness. We’ll have a look at Torquay and it’s just about keeping sharpness.”
Macclesfield’s 2-0 victory over Stockport came thanks to goals from Chris Holroyd and Danny Rowe, and Watson was pleased with what he saw.
“The Stockport game was a little bit more like the games we’re going to face this season, a little bit more direct, a little bit more physical, and I think we handled said.
“It wasn’t the best game of football for us, we’ve played much better than that in pre-season but we changed the system a little bit and had a look at fourfour-two.”
One worry to come out of the game against Stockport was an injury to David Fitzpatrick, but it well,” he Watson is confident that it won’t be anything serious.
“To get everybody through pre-season is the main thing and obviously touch wood David Fitzpatrick is okay,” he said.
“We think David has got an impact injury. He’ll be sore for a few days and hopefully will be training again this week.”
Watson wasn’t the only person to praise the Macclesfield players for their victory on Saturday, as Stockport boss Jim Gannon also complimented the side.
He was impressed with what he saw from the Silkmen, and admitted that they were well deserving of their result.
“Based upon the game, the best team won. They looked fitter, sharper and they’re a good side,” said Gannon.
“They’re going to do well again this season, they’re always there abouts in the National League so it was a fantastic workout for us.”
Macclesfield’s first league game of the season takes place at the Moss Rose when they Torquay on Saturday.
It’s the second straight year that Askey’s side have begun the campaign against Torquay, as the two teams also met on the opening day of the 2015/16 season.
Torquay were victorious on that occasion, picking up a 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Alex Fisher. face