Danny Whitaker’s after-hours activity makes him a lethal weapon – and his gaffer is hoping he’ll pull the trigger more this season.
The veteran midfielder showed his skill and an eye for goal with the only strike of the midweek game against Torquay United.
After a shot from Chris Holroyd had looped high into the night sky, Whitaker showed composure to find the bottom corner.
That goal set up a victory that lifted his side to third in the Vanarama Conference, although only temporarily as defeat at Barnet at the weekend - their first in 10 league outings - saw them finish the weekend still in a dizzying fifth spot.
“It was a good finish from Danny, we expect him to weigh in with double figures,” said manager John Askey. “Obviously he’s not been 100 per cent fit but the more he plays the better he gets, I thought that was his best game.
“Having a fully-fit Danny Whitaker will give us all an extra push as well. He’s always struck a good ball, he practices after training every day, he has done from being a kid. It’s only through one or two injuries he hasn’t got more goals this season, but he strikes a ball as well as anybody.”
A back problem prevented him from kicking a ball in anger throughout September and October but, having recovered from that injury he returned with impeccable timing. Paul Lewis' broken collarbone in the FA Cup replay at Wrexham saw him sidelined and Whitaker stepped back into the breach in the next game, at Nuneaton.
It meant the reformation of arguably the division's top midfield pairing, Whitaker and Paul Turnbull.
With Lewis now just a few weeks from his own return it's setting up for a scrap for starting places in the Silkmen's engine room.
