| The win at Accrington last week was our first
points on our travels in the league this season and
is a good confidence boost ahead of our second game
against Macclesfield this season.
This first match at the Racecourse was a controversial
affair when the two sides met last month in the
First Round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.
Wrexham were enjoying the better of the game until
referee Darren Drysdale took centre stage by awarding the Silkmen a
controversial match winning penalty and then went onto to show Chris
Llewellyn and Michael Proctor red cards.
Both players have only just returned from their
resulting suspensions whilst The Silkmen lost 1-0 to local rivals Stockport in the
second round on Tuesday night and are yet to record three points at home
this season.
Their solitary league win was at Hereford at the
beginning of September and rather strangely, we have won two more games
than Macclesfield but they are one point and four places ahead of us in
the table with a return of 10 points from 10 games.
Macclesfield have drawn seven of their other games
with the only two defeats coming at Moss Rose when Wycombe and Chester
left with all three points after 2-1 victories last month.
Top scorer for the Silkmen is striker Francis Green
and the former Lincoln striker has found the back of the net five times
so far this season.
Green is currently averaging a goal every other game
for Macclesfield since his arrival in the summer but his goal against
Chesterfield last weekend ended a run of four games without a goal.
The Silkmen's 2-2 draw at Chesterfield last weekend
was a good result but Macclesfield have gone five league games without a
win, although manager Ian Brightwell was full of praise of his team's
performance.
Brightwell took charge of Macclesfield in the summer
after Paul Ince departed at the end of last season after completing
their version of the great escape..
Brightwell was reserve team manager at Moss Rose and played the last of
his 460+ league appearances for the Silkmen in October 2006. He was also
caretaker manager before Ince succeeded Brian Horton last season.
Previous Encounters:
Our defeat to the Silkmen last month means we have
have gone six games since our last victory against the Cheshire side.
This was back in 2002 when we left Moss Rose with a
1-0 victory with Hector Sam striking in the second half to claim all of
the three points.
Macclesfield got the better of us last season with a
2-0 victory at Moss Rose with the match at the Racecourse ending
goalless.
The club's have only met eight times in the league
with both teams on three wins each and the other two ending in draws.
Team News:
Midfielder Mark Jones is set to play after recovering
from the injury that forced him out of the Wales international squad
that travelled to Cyprus this week.
Steve Evans is still away on international duty but
the good news continues with the return of Ryan valentine, Mile
Williams, Silvio Spann and Marc Williams to the squad.
Richard Edghill is back in the Macclesfield squad but
he will have a late fitness test after recovering from a calf injury
whilst Michael husbands and Carl Regan are available following illness.
Nick Blackman (knee cartilage), Andrew Teague (leg)
and Jamie Tolley (wrist) are long term absentees for the Silkmen.
Elsewhere in League Two:
The international weekend sees only Shrewsbury's home
game against Chesterfield kicking off at the normal 3pm on Saturday
afternoon.
Lincoln, who are one place below us in the table, face
a difficult task when they travel to early pace setters MK Dons on the
Sunday afternoon whilst bottom placed Mansfield kick off thirty minutes
later than us at Barnet. |
