Macclesfield assistant manager Gary Simpson spoke to the official Town website after his side's 4-2 defeat away to Carlisle in the JPT, Simpson understandably happy with just the first hour of the game from a Macclesfield perspective :
"We came here with a side to try and frustrate them. We're away from home, against a side a division above and you have to think about that when planning your game. By half-time I thought we had been doing OK and had got the goal.
"Their first goal changed the game really. They had brought the two forwards (Joe Anyinsah and Scott Dobie) off the bench and scored from a long way out and it really got their tails up. Perhaps if we had scored instead of them for the second it would have been a different game, but defensively we should have done better there. We let them attack down the left and didn't cut out the cross.
"The goals were all down to individual errors which we know we need to cut out. When we were level or had the lead we were doing OK. When we had something to defend we were frustrating them, but when they went a goal up it knocked the stuffing out of us and we made too many errors to give them a big lead too easily."
"They were pretty much all enforced changes to the team. We have played a lot of games in a short spell of time and with a small squad we have had players playing with knocks. It would have been a game too far for some of the lads who have been playing through a few knocks. The only real decision we had to make was whether to put (John) Rooney in from the start or to give Tippy (Matt Tipton) some time to make sure he keeps sharp and match fit.
"One of the few positives from today was the chance to give some of the players like Tipton and (Paul) Bolland some more time on the pitch, and it was a debut for Stephen Reed. Shaun Brisley came on and did ok, and got us a goal and of course John showed what he can do by scoring a very nice goal today.
"The lads have never had problems with the morale this season. They are a resilient bunch and bounced back from the last disappointment at Chesterfield with a decent run and I'm sure they will bounce back again tonight. They have done OK for 70 or so minutes against a team from the division above, and we tried to give it a go. We scored twice away from home, but we know that the individual errors cost us the game.
"We have to hope that they learn from those and start looking towards Lincoln. It's very important to pick up points from the teams around us in the table and we have been doing that so far this season so will be looking for a reaction on Saturday."