SCOTT Barrow says Macclesfield’s defeat at Wrexham will only spur them on to success elsewhere.

Barrow, an ever-present at left-back this season, was impressed with the character shown in the FA Cup replay, which is sure to serve Macc well in the months to come.

John Askey’s side can still justifiably keep one eye on the play-off places and with the FA Trophy also still to come, Barrow is staying optimistic.

“It was a pretty tough second half, we knew it would be once we’d gone down to 10 men but the boys dug in and showed a lot of character,” he said after the 5-2 loss. On the face of it the replay may look like a thumping but after Alex Grant's controversial sending-off just before half-time it was a fabulous effort from the Silkmen.

“We’re proud of our efforts in the second half, these are a big team and with a lot of experience, we’re still young as a team and still learning.

Alex Grant opened the scoring at Wrexham but was also sent off
 

"It was a pretty tough second half, we knew it would be once we'd gone down to 10 men but the boys dug in and showed a lot of character but the result, which was the main thing, wasn't the best, we just have to go again in the league now.

"I always believe to the end, in any game, whether you're four or five down, I always go to the end. Anything can happen, especially in the cup, but the set-pieces killed it for us.

We're proud of our efforts in the second half, with (Adriano) Moke and Arthur (Gnahoua) in central midfield, they ran their socks off, so did Waide (Fairhurst) and Chris (Holroyd) up front. We've got a young back four, Adam coming in at right back, a position he's not used to, and he did absolutely fantastic, Dan (Cowan) too. And Rhys (Taylor) pulled off some worldy saves, like he always does.

 

“We’ve only lost three games in the league, we’re doing unbelievably well, especially after a lot of people had written us off, and we've got a good togetherness in the squad.”

It was always an uphill task once Grant saw red for bringing down Wes York but Barrow insists the youngster was hard done-to. And Taylor, who made a string of fine saves including Andy Bishop's penalty from the Grant incident, was in inspired form.

“I was next to Alex and I’m the one that called offside,” he added. “He was two yards off. I asked the linesman and he wouldn’t give me an answer so obviously he knows he was in the wrong.

"Rhys isn't happy, he made some great saves but when we had 10 men and they were keeping the ball what you gonna do, there were gaps and Wrexham exploited them. We're not the biggest team and we gave away sloppy free kicks and corners and they were always likely to punish us in the air.

“But we’ll go again, look forward to the next game and look to do well in the FA Trophy as well.”