Macclesfield Town and Forest Green Rovers have enjoyed a fruitful 2017 so far, which makes Saturday’s third round clash in the Buildbase FA Trophy pivotal to maintain momentum.
Throw in the fact that the prospect of a Wembley appearance moves ever closer, and Silkmen boss John Askey admits his side are desperate to come out on top at Moss Rose.
Forest Green are unbeaten in six games since the calendar flipped to January, while Macclesfield have suffered just one loss – a 2-1 reverse to Guiseley a fortnight ago.
A win this weekend takes the victors into the quarter finals and just two games away from a trip to the national stadium – something Askey says is a huge motivation.
“We’re in the last 16 so it’s a great opportunity to get to Wembley and obviously everybody wants to,” explained the 52-year-old.
“It’s the one competition that you can win so hopefully if we can put in a good performance against Forest Green then we have a great chance.
“It has been a good start to the year and we're just trying to keep it going now.”
Rovers have already travelled to Moss Rose once this season, when a Keanu Marsh-Brown goal gave them a hard-fought 1-0 victory on the road.
And Askey is under no illusions about the challenge Macclesfield face, even with home advantage.
He added: “They’re one of the best teams in our league, they’ve got a big squad and it’ll be a tough game as we found out at home.
“We gave them a goal when we met in the league and once we had done that we performed really well and should have got something out of the game.
“It’ll be tough game on Saturday, but it's one we’re all looking forward to.”
FA Trophy history
Macclesfield won the inaugural FA Trophy in the 1969-70 season as they beat Telford United 2-0 at Wembley. Telford got revenge by triumphing 1-0 in the 1989 Final but Town did lift the Trophy for a second time in 1996 by beating Northwich Victoria 3-1.
For their part, Forest Green are two-time FA Trophy Finalists, losing in both 1999 and 2001 – going down to Kingstonian 1-0 and then Canvey Island by the same scoreline.
Did you know?
Macclesfield reached the third round of The FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history in 1968, but lost 4-2 to First Division Fulham at Craven Cottage.
So impressive was their performance, however, that the Silkmen’s Keith Goalen became the first-ever non-league player to be named ‘Footballer of the Month’ by the London Evening Standard.
One to watch
A Football League stalwart for the likes of Brighton & Hove Albion, Stevenage, Rotherham and Preston North End, striker Chris Holroyd joined Macclesfield permanently in the summer of 2013.
The 30-year-old is enjoying arguably the most productive season of his time at Moss Rose this year, having already plundered 11 goals in the National League.
He will have competition for the most prolific frontman on the pitch however, as Forest Green’s Christian Doidge has bagged 15 goals in 30 games in all competition since joining from Dagenham and Redbridge in the summer.
The prize
The winners of the third round tie will earn £7,000 and put themselves just two games away from an appearance at Wembley.
