John Askey’s shooting stars have been completed with the signing of striker Scott Boden, and the boss is  looking forward to watching them in action this season.

Boden, who had a spell on loan from?Chesterfield under Gary?Simpson, had been back at Macc on trial and this week put his name to a 12-month deal.

The capture means Askey will have Boden, Chris Holroyd, Arthur Gnahoua and – for six months at least – Connor Jennings in attack.

“Scott has done well since he’s been with us, he’s linked up well with Chris Holroyd on the training ground and in games,” said Askey.

“Chris is always a willing runner, he comes alive when the ball is in the box and when the ball comes into the box he’s still getting across people.

“Connor shows that desire and he’s got that bit more of a physical presence than we had before. It’s what you need throughout the team, people who can compete. It’s not all about having the most ability it’s about having that desire and the will to win and Connor shows that.

“I think we look quite strong up front and in games where we’re supposedly playing against better opposition the forwards always look as though they’ve got the beating of the full-backs.

“They’ve created chances, we just need to put them away.”

And while Askey was expected to snap up left-back Danny Andrew this week, the long-term return of local hero Danny?Whitaker seems highly unlikely.

Wilmslow-raised Whitaker, who played a substitute role in last week’s friendly at home to Rochdale, is mulling over offers from a number of clubs after his release from Chesterfield this summer. Only a major cash injection could make what would be a huge boost for the Silkmen a reality.

“Danny has come in because we asked him to come down while he’s not training with anyone,” explained the manager. “He’s got offers elsewhere and I just hope that by people seeing him on the pitch businesses in Macc might be prepared to put some money into the club that might enable me to entice Danny to come back.

“That was the idea behind Danny coming in, just to show people that he does want to play for us but obviously he’s got a wife and family to look after and he’s had better offers from elsewhere so he has to look after them.

“He wants to come but without the money we can’t do it.”

And it’s that now-familiar dearth of funds that means Macc may miss out on the chance of signing Steve Williams, who  formed a strong central defensive pairing with Efe Sodje.

“I believe Steve has gone to another club?(Halifax), he’s still in contention to play for us but obviously players have to look after themselves,” he added.

“We can’t offer great contracts so that does leave them open to other clubs if they’ve done well for us in pre-season. Obviously Steve has done well and he’s drawing attention to himself.

“There’s still a possibility though.”