Jay Burgess is desperate for some of the good times to return to his club, and he’s hoping he’ll be around to help make that happen.

Burgess became Macclesfield Town’s latest fully-fledged Silkman last Thursday at a thoroughly drenched Newport County, and marked his debut with a third-minute strike to put his side ahead.

But, after witnessing first-hand a miserable end to a campaign that promised much, the former Fallibroome High School pupil says he’d love to see promotion next year – with mentor John Askey at the helm.

“It’s really disappointing how the season’s ending but hopefully we can go out on a high,” said the 19-year-old.

“John Askey taking over (as manager) is the best thing that could have happened for me, he’s done a lot for me and I hope that goal went some way to repaying him.

“I’d like to see John get the manager’s job, after all he’s done for the club down the years I think he deserves it.”

Youth-team boss Askey’s bid to succeed Steve King permanently has been hampered by an inability to move players in or out, or even promote any of Burgess’ contemporaries due to registration issues.

With just the Cambridge game left before summer, Askey has struggled to stop the rot or  chalk up the club’s first victory since mid-March.

Serious play-off contenders until April, an alarming collapse may yet see the Silkmen suffer more indignity – defeat on?

Saturday would be six in a row and would put Macc out of the top half of the table.

Still, Macc lad Burgess – a regular on the Moss Rose terraces with dad Russell as a kid – has no doubt that Askey can be the man to lead the club back to the Football League.

Out of contract at the end of June, Burgess knows that a good showing – if given a chance against the U’s – could see him return for pre-season training in July.

“John’s a good manager,” he continued. “He spoke to me before the Newport game and said he had good news and bad news – the good news being that I’d be playing but the bad news is that it looked like it’d be off.

“I was nervous but  obviously happy when John told me it was on and I was starting. He told me to go out and play my normal game, Waide (Fairhurst) was a big help too, he was happy for me, even though it meant he was starting on the bench.

“Obviously the goal helped me to settle, but we didn’t have much of the ball, we really struggled to retain it.

“I was happy to get my first game, I got a good hour in, but my goal came with pretty much my first touch, Guy Madjo charged it down and it fell nicely for me and I got a bit of a swerve on it.

“It was a shame what happened after that but Newport are a good team.

“I’m just hoping that against Cambridge I can get a chance to show enough to stay on.”

Cashless, managerless and seemingly rudderless, Burgess concedes that times are tough for Macc Town and their fans, but the former Stoke City academy pupil, who says the club’s youth system gave him a great grounding, feels the pain more than most of his team-mates.

“I used to come to watch Macc with my dad when I was younger and it was hard to take when we went down last season,” he recalled.

“It’s a very tough league to get promoted from.

“It won’t happen this season but hopefully next time we can get promoted.  That would give the club a massive lift – we’ve got a new perspective and a new aim instead of aiming to survive in the league each year, and hopefully I can be a part of that.”