There are to be no long faces in the Moss Rose ranks this week, despite their fourth straight defeat.

After their FA Trophy loss to Gateshead, manager Steve King is hoping for an upturn in Macclesfield’s fortunes when they play their FA Cup second-round tie at Barrow this Saturday – and he’s adamant he has the personnel at his disposal.

While his side earned the early plaudits during a strong start to their first non-league campaign in 15 years it’s become heavy going recently but King insists positivity is rife within the squad.

"They’re definitely not demoralised, they’ve been very sharp in training once again," he said ahead of his scouting trip to watch the Bluebirds face Hyde on Tuesday.

"We were obviously disappointed to lose on Friday and to have lost four on the bounce, we’ve been going over that game again and again, but we’re good enough to come back from that.

"Form is temporary and class is permanent, and I have to say I’ve been pleased but not surprised by how positive the lads are staying even though we’ve been going through a bad spell where we haven’t been getting the rub of the green.

"Everyone goes through bad spells, all the teams who’ve been up at the top are going to have a run of bad results.

"What’s important is how you bounce back. We’ll still try to produce good football and if we get a couple of wins it all changes."

King says he’s under no illusions as, although his side beat Barrow in their league meeting in August, it’ll be a tough shift at Holker Street this weekend.

"The league table goes out of the window, this is a cup game and a big cup game," he continued. "They are a solid unit, full of effort and determination, and a good team that went through October undefeated, so they’re very capable.

"We’ll have to earn the right to play our football because they’ll give their all and we have to match that."

And should they reach the hallowed grounds of the third-round draw King will be delighted as the prospect of a money-spinning tie against one of the Premier League giants could set up the club financially.

"Everybody knows the potential of that third round and what a big draw can do for the smaller clubs," he added.

"If we were to get through and someone like Liverpool, City or United or Newcastle away there’s a lot of money to be earned, amounts that could set this club up for the next few years, but we can’t look too far ahead, we’ve got to prepare properly for this game first."

Kieran Murtagh is set to return to the Macc midfield after serving his one-match ban and John Paul Kissock, who was rested against Gateshead as he is currently on four yellow cards, will also return to the squad.

Another boost for King comes in the form of club captain Nat Brown, who has returned to training after his Achilles injury and he’s said to be "in contention" for a place in the team to face Barrow.