Former?Silkman Matt Towns admits he can’t wait to see how his hometown club fares under John?Askey and Efe Sodje.

The goalkeeper, who plies his trade in the Maltese leagues, is in no doubt that ‘Sir John’ and Sodje can turn around the ailing fortunes at the Moss?Rose.

The club’s new management duo have already spoken about the challenges ahead and the minimal funds with which to mount a challenge this season, after a campaign that promised much but eventually saw the Silkmen finish in mid-table.

And Towns, who remembers watching Askey and Sodje in action as a nipper on the Moss Rose terraces, is backing them to bring the smiles back to Macc.

“John and Efe know what the club is all about, and they realise that there’s a need to get back to being the ‘family club’ that

people used to enjoy going to watch,” he said. “I think having them running the team is a great decision.

“John Askey lives and breathes Macc Town – I?remember his playing days very well, from the days when my dad and I used to go every week, home and away.

“I was there when the club got promoted to the Football?League and I remember Sodje coming in from Stevenage and scoring the club’s first league goal. They were great times and  it was sad to see them relegated last year.

“Everyone thinks ‘oh, the Conference is a part-time league, it’ll be easy to come straight back up again’ but it’s not an easy league. Teams like Mansfield, Wrexham and Newport have had their problems and they’ve taken years to get to the top of the Conference, because there are some big teams still down there. They’ve reassessed and balanced the books and it shows how well Macc did to get

promoted in the first place, and to stay in the league for as long as they did.

“You have to credit the people who were running the club so well then.?And I’m glad that with people like John and Efe there now, there are people who will fight tooth and nail for the club.”

As for his own exploits, ‘Townsey’ knows all about missing out on promotion to big-spending rivals, as his Luxol?St Andrews side were edged into third spot by champions Naxxar and runners-up Vittoriosa.

And with a season in which he’s got more game time under his belt than during his stints with the country’s big-hitters Floriana and Valletta, the 30-year-old is also working hard at his plans for when he hangs up his gloves.

“The two teams that got promotion have both spent a lot of money, while we have put a lot of faith in our nursery and bringing young players through,” he explained.

“Our average age in the squad is about 23, I’m 30 and we’ve one or two others around my age but it’s mainly young lads apart from that.

“We only have a few lads that are full-time professionals and, in all honesty, we were probably a couple of experienced players short in the end but we’ve just got a new player-coach, William da Silva Barbosa.

“I?played with him at Valletta and he’s got experience of playing in Italy’s Serie B; he’s one of the best attacking midfielders in Malta.

“There’s plenty of confidence around the club, we’re very driven and we’re all pulling together, from the chairman and the committee all the way down, that’s so important.

“We’ve got an extra incentive this season too, because Hamrun are historically one of Malta’s biggest clubs and they’ll be in our division this season.

“As well as that, probably Luxol’s biggest rivals, Melita  have just come back down after they were promoted a year ago, so our big derby is back.”

Towns has a year left on his Luxol contract and, with a verbal agreement in place for a further two years, he’s no plans to call time on his playing days yet.

He said: “I?hadn’t played that much at Valletta but I’ve only missed one game this season, and that was through suspension – I was sent off for a professional foul four minutes into the game against Naxxar and we lost 4-0 – and I think I’ve been showing some of my best form.

“There’s no substitute for regular games and I was man-of-the-match four times in our first eight games. If you’re in a

division with these clubs with bigger budgets you expect to be busy as a goalkeeper though.

“I intend to stay at Luxol, it’s a fantastic club and I’m also employed as the club’s goalkeeping coach and as head keeping coach at Sunderland’s academy over here.?It’s really good fun. I’m looking beyond my playing career so I’ve got my level one badge and my UEFA?B, which I passed recently.

“I’m looking to come back to England before the season to do my level two.

“I am really motivated; my mum was a big driving force behind me but she passed away in July. I think that’s why, when what was a good season for us ended I was more disappointed than I should have been. But she’s now my inspiration to achieve much more.”