Gary Simpson is urging his Macc Town players to start punching above their weight and clinch their first win of the season.

The Silkmen put a dreadful performance at Accrington firmly behind them by dominating unbeaten Chesterfield, and their manager is hoping they can take inspiration from the Rocky films in the coming weeks.

Macc have and will continue to battle against the odds, due to finances a fraction of virtually all of their League Two rivals’ resources.

But Simpson is adamant that unfancied contenders can come through to win in the end.

"It’s like a boxing match, like in the Rocky films," he said. "Any people in their right mind should know that, whoever we play in this league, we’re going to be underdogs.

"People in this country love to get behind the underdogs and support them, so you’d think people will get right behind us.

"Just because you’re an underdog doesn’t mean you can’t show the right endeavour.

"We can’t compete with the budgets of most clubs in the league so we have to work hard week in, week out. I want the lads to put a shift in, then whether our ability will be good enough is a different matter."

And Simpson was pleased that, having been on the ropes this week, Macc came out swinging against Chesterfield last Saturday.

"I can’t and won’t try to defend the performance at Accrington," he continued. "We’ve all had a bit of stick but it’s happened and we won’t dwell on it.

"It was the first time this season they’ve put in a bad performance – we should have held out for the win at Stevenage, should have got something from the defeat to Shrewsbury and could have had the three points on Saturday.

"We’re playing entertaining football and we want to do that and get the results we deserve too."

And, ahead of the visit of Stockport County this weekend, Simpson is refusing to let their Cheshire rivals’ own problems allow complacency to set in.

"I think some people at Stockport are still finding their feet, but it’s a local derby and they’re usually nip and tuck," he warned. "I expect them to bring a good following and make a good fist of it. We’ll go into the game hoping it’ll be the win that turns our season around."