Macc Town manager Gary Simpson may need to start wrapping his defenders in cotton wool, unless he can pull off a Premier League coup – and soon.

Simmo will now be without centre-back Shaun Brisley for most of the season due to a hip problem that requires surgery.

The solution will see the club’s hometown hero go under the knife at least twice, ruling him out until at least spring next year.

And, with full-backs Izak Reid and Carl Tremarco struggling for fitness, Simpson has been trying to recruit from the Premier League but hasn’t yet been able to swell the Silkmen ranks.

"One or two of our lads are playing with knocks already," he admitted ahead of Tuesday night’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie against Crewe. "And now that we’re not going to have Bris available for at least five months – because he’ll probably need a second op in the summer – we’re going to need some cover in case anything happens to Nat Brown or Paul Morgan.

"Obviously we spent our budget for players in the summer, so we’re trying to get one or two of the Premier boys to do us a favour.

"We’ve been on to Manchester City and it looked like we were taking one of their young lads but he got a stress fracture last week."

With the coffers empty, Simpson is hoping that a potential recruit’s parent club will continue to pay their wage in exchange for a regular spot in the first team.

His other central defensive option is to drop Hamza Bencherif back from his current midfield role, a move he’d like to avoid if at all possible. And the Algerian – happy simply to be back on the field after his horrorific ankle break – says that the belief and quality at the club remains high after an unbeaten three-game run.

"I’ve not seen any better teams than us in this league," he said. "If we can stay fit and play to the best of our ability we can get to safety quickly and push on from there."

Bencherif netted his second goal of the season during Macc’s 2-0 win over Northampton Town on Saturday and admitted his bouncing Tigger-esque celebration – a tribute to the Jamie Foxx rom-com Booty Call – was down to pure delight to be back among the goals.

"It’s definitely good to be scoring goals, especially at home in front of our fans, " he continued. "I’m really happy to be back in a team that’s creating so many chances, the supply’s really good.

"There are a lot of good balls coming into the box, flick-ons are causing other teams problems and with Matty Hamshaw putting great deliveries in, and Lewis Chalmers’ long throws, we’re going to create lots of chances.

"If we can get on them and put them in the net there’s no reason why we can’t get towards the play-offs.

"I’m still only at about 70 per cent, I’ve still got one leg that’s skinnier than the other. I can handle myself but the thing I find hardest is the 50-50 tackles, especially when you’re doing a defensive job.

"After being out for so long with my injury, my brain won’t let me do it yet so I need to get back to being able to challenge fully, otherwise that’s one way to get injured again.

"But I can feel my fitness improving with every game and with my gym work with Reidy [club physio Nicky Reid] I’m getting the movement and power back too."

And with this weekend’s trip to managerless Lincoln looming, Simpson – who was Keith Alexander’s right-hand man there – predicted that things aren’t getting any easier in League Two.

"It’s got to have a bit of spice to it," he added. "It’s certainly a place that holds fond memories for me but we’re going there to get more points on the board."