Macclesfield Town manager John Askey felt his side made the perfect start to the 2017/18 season following their 1-0 victory at Wrexham on Saturday.

Noe Baba got the only goal of the match in the first half to ensure the Silkmen got their National League campaign underway with a victory. Askey was delighted to pick up all three points, and praised his players for their efforts throughout the game.

“I thought in the first half we played well and in the second half we had to dig in and rode our luck at times,” he told the club’s official website.

“I thought we scored a perfectly good second goal that would have helped to kill the game off but it was given offside, but in the end I’m really pleased and it’s just the start that we want.”

Baba’s goal came early on for Macclesfield, and Askey has revealed that he initially shouted at his player for not passing.

“I was screaming at him (Baba) to pass the ball and then he’s hit it well!” He said.

“It skidded off the surface and the keeper couldn’t deal with it.

“I’m really pleased for him because I thought he had a good game as well as his goal and that will only give him confidence as he has a lot of potential.”

Askey was also pleased that his side were able to keep a clean sheet, and hopes that the defence will continue to perform.

“I think it is important that we had experience at the back, that’s what I was looking for at the start of the season, with younger lads in front,” he said.

“It’s gone well in this game against Wrexham and hopefully that can continue for the rest of the season.”

It had been a busy week for Macclesfield ahead of the game with Wrexham, as Askey managed to secure the loan signing of Adam Yates from Port Vale.

The Silkmen boss has revealed that an injury to Jared Hodgkiss in training was what led him to bringing in Yates.

“Jared pulled his groin on Wednesday. There was 30 seconds of training to go and he pulls his groin,” he said. “It was the only position we couldn’t really fill but we’ve managed to get Adam in who’s got bags of experience and lives locally so he was ideal.”

Macclesfield were set to host Hartlepool United at the Moss Rose as the Express went to print on Tuesday, before another home game against Bromley on Saturday.