John Askey would dearly love an easy afternoon’s work once in a while.
On Saturday his Macclesfield side kept him on tenterhooks right up until the 86th minute, when Waide Fairhurst finally pounced to score the second goal and kill off any lingering Alfreton hopes.
And though it meant the Silkmen sat pretty in fourth place, and they improved on that with Tuesday night's 1-0 win over Torquay, Askey is still not 100 per cent satisfied, as his troops still insist on providing some heart-stopping moments.
Some Macclesfield matches should carry health warnings, and those of a nervous disposition should often steer clear, for their own good. Saturday’s win was only the fourth Silkmen success that wasn’t settled by the odd goal, giving the gaffer the odd shredded nerve. The 1-0 midweek victory against the Gulls, courtesy of Danny Whitaker's second-half goal and Rhys Taylor's latest wonder-save, continued that trend.
“It’s really pleasing to be in the play-off places, and we play some good football at times but there’s definitely room for improvement,” he said. “That’s what we’ll keep trying to do, hopefully we can do that and the results will keep coming.
“We should have been safe before Waide’s goal, Barnesy had a decent chance, we should have scored more but at least we’re starting to make one or two chances because we’ve struggled to score this season.
" I always worry whether we're winning or losing, I was the same as a player. It keeps me on my toes and I hope it rubs off on the players."
Meanwhile, a second-half injury to Andy Halls against Alfreton may have forced a reshuffle for the Torquay game, but the manager remained full of praise for the team’s defensive efforts.
“After playing for England C Hallsy was probably susceptible to an injury. I thought Alex (Grant) was great when he came on, he was winning headers, his passing out of defence was excellent.
“And that was Liam (Hogan)’s best game today, he’s needed games and he’s improving but it’s not just the back four, it’s all the players in front of them as well.”
