The Silkmen’s new captain Pablo Mills won’t be abandoning hope of making some new – happier – memories this season.

Mills took over as captain during the absence of the now loaned-out Nat Brown and he’s hoping that the season’s story could still have a happy ending.

“It’s going to be hectic, we’ve got a monstrous run-in,” said the defender. “There’s a lot to cram in but we’ll deal with it, we’ll prepare right and try to rest when we can so we can go out and do our best in the last few games.

“It’s been well documented that quite a few players have left the club recently and we’re pretty much down to the bare bones.

“It’s a pretty tense time, hoping we can all stay fit and fresh. We’ll have to deal with it.”

A surprise signing to some when he came to the Moss Rose from Crawley, a club that has become accustomed to success in recent years, Mills struggled to establish himself in Steve King’s team initially.

But now that an effective pairing with Thierry Audel is blossoming Mills is keen to lead the Silkmen back to the Football League.

“Yes, I had a slow start to my time here, I had to bide my time when I first came but I feel I’ve started to show the form I know I’m capable of producing now, I’m glad that I’m able to contribute,” said the 28-year-old.

“Being made captain didn’t change my game at all, I’m naturally an on-field leader, the armband doesn’t change that, though it’s good that the manager has seen that I have an effect on people and that he’s shown faith in me.

“The partnership with Thierry has been pretty good so far, we’ve helped each other out and we encourage each other.

“There was definitely a concern early on about the goals we were conceding but it’s getting tighter and we’ll only get better the more we play as a pair.”

As for the gruelling weeks to come, with little room for rest or failure, it’s perhaps a blessing in disguise that that partnership will – injury notwithstanding – be  continuing right up to the final whistle against Cambridge.

“We’ve no cover so we’ll just have to do our best and get through these games,” continued Mills, who led Crawley to two successive promotions, adding a third place in the 2011/12 League Two season to the Conference title the Red Devils captured the season before.

“There’s really no one left to step in, so we have to keep playing and keep performing and that adds to the pressure on us.

“We can’t afford to get injured but we can’t afford not to give our all. I’m pretty hard on myself anyway, I never allow myself to slack off so that’s not a problem.

“I don’t think we’re paying that much attention to what’s going on in the top five, though we know it’s really Grimsby and Newport that we’re looking to catch.

“Whatever happens happens, we can only affect ourselves, and hopefully one of them will slip up.”

Mills is also keen to create some positive headlines. Unfairly, he’s best remembered for his role in a punch-up between Crawley and Bradford.

Although he initially tried to act as peacemaker (“I went to help out Claude Davis and it spiralled” he says) the on-field spat saw Mills and four others dismissed.

It eventually cost him the captaincy and even his place in the squad, and he left Crawley at the end of the season, eventually landing in Cheshire late in the summer.

And not only is he keen to repay King’s faith with promotion, but also show other clubs what they’ve missed out on“

A third promotion would be nice, definitely,” he added. “I’ve got quite a few good memories from the last few years but people still remember that one the most.

“I definitely think it affected my movement over the summer, I came off the back of two promotions with Crawley but the interest that I thought there would be just wasn’t there.”