The play-offs are within our reach, insists Macclesfield’s home-grown star Shaun Brisley. The 21-year-old defender has put pen to paper on a new two-year contract and is excited about the Silkmen’s prospects for the coming season.

"It wasn’t really a tough decision for me to sign a new deal," admitted Maxonian Brisley, who has already clocked up 100 appearances for his hometown club.

"I didn’t play that many games last season [a hip operation saw Brisley sidelined for three months] so I wasn’t really expecting that other clubs would come in for me.

"If we can keep the core of the squad together we can do well and have a good season. We showed at times what we can do last season, we just need to get that consistency.

"If we can do that then a top-half finish is possible, without a shadow of a doubt.

"We’ve got a lot of talented young players in the squad and I think there’s no reason why we can’t get into the play-offs.

"It’s not easy but we’re good enough."

After progressing through the Moss Rose academy, Brisley made his league debut in Keith Alexander’s first match in charge, in March 2008, and his development since that day has seen him emerge as a key member of Gary Simpson’s squad.

Although more at home in the centre of defence, Brisley has often filled in at full-back and is continuing to develop.

He was called upon at the back end of the last campaign following club captain Paul Morgan’s broken arm, and assistant manager Glyn Chamberlain said: "We were well pleased with Shaun when he came back into the side.

"He did very well, he’d not played a lot and even though he wasn’t 100 per cent because there were no reserve games for him to get some sharpness back, he was strong for us.

"He’s an honest and committed lad, he looks after himself and we’re chuffed that he’s re-signed. We’re disappointed to lose Bolly [Paul Bolland, who has joined Mansfield Town on a two-year deal] but he was offered a great deal that he couldn’t afford to turn down.

"There are a lot of teams with a bit of backing in the Blue Square Bet Premier, the likes of Wrexham, Luton, York, Mansfield and Fleetwood have all got a bit of money.

"I don’t know about it being hard to get out of that division, it’s going to be a tough league to even stay in!"

Chamberlain said that, while there has been little transfer action in the last few frustrating weeks, he dismissed rumours linking contracted players Colin Daniel with Mansfield, Tyrone Barnett with Crewe and Nat Brown with Bournemouth, and admitted that, although he has heard rumours linking out-of-contract Hamza Bencherif with a move to Notts County, they have had "no concrete offers."

Meanwhile, Brisley is looking forward to getting back on the field after a good pre-season and "I think I’m more developed physically as I’ve grown," he said, "but I think I’ve got a better understanding of the game.

"I’ve always known, since he and Keith gave me my first chance, that Simmo had faith in me, he trusts me and I want to repay that."