MATCH PREVIEW: Macclesfield Town

The Silkmen are currently placed 20^th in the table with just one win, a 2-0 home victory over Port Vale, two draws and three defeats in their six league matches played so far. Last Saturday they lost 2-1 at Crewe. In the Carling Cup, Macclesfield lost 2-0 at home to Leicester in the 1^st round, while they received a bye in the opening Johnstone's Paint Trophy round. They have been drawn to play Carlisle United in the 2^nd round.

Macclesfield were promoted to the football league in 1997 after winning the Conference. The Silkmen finished 2^nd in their first season in Division 3 (now League Two), winning automatic promotion. However, they finished bottom of Division 2 in 1998/99 and were relegated back to Division 3. In the next four seasons they became a middle of the table side, but in 2003/04, they finished close to the bottom, ending up in 20^th place.

The following season, 2004/05 saw a big improvement as the club finished 5^th and in the play-offs, which they failed to win, but since then the highest place they have achieved is 19^th. This season has seen them in a similar position so far, but they will be hoping not to get pulled into what has seemed to be somewhat of an annual relegation battle.

The club are managed by former Barnet player, Keith Alexander and include in their squad the former Barnet trialist, Ben Wright who seemed to have picked up the habit of scoring against the Bees during his time at Lincoln City.

Barnet have not fared particularly well against Macclesfield in the last couple of seasons with only a 2-2 draw at Underhill in 2007/08 to set against three Macclesfield wins. However, the Bees fared better against the Silkmen in their first two seasons after promotion in 2005, winning 3 and drawing 1 of their fixtures. The last time that the Bees won at Moss Rose was in 2006/07 when they came away with a 3-2 victory.

Barnet's Ahmed Deen, who scored his first senior goal at Northampton last weekend will be keen to show Keith Alexander that he was wrong to release the Sierra Leone international at the end of last season. Deen has impressed Bees' fans since his arrival and has earned himself a two year contract at Underhill.

For tomorrow's game, Gary Breen is still injured and Daniel Leach misses out again with the ankle injury that has kept him out of the games against Millwall and Northampton. Clovis Kamdjo is expected to continue at centre back alongside Ismail Yakubu who has been nominated for the League Two Player of the Month award. John O'Flynn could start in place of leading scorer, Jake Hyde.

Macclesfield have a number of injury problems. Defender, Sean Hessey and striker, Kyle Wilson are likely to miss out tomorrow, but Ben Wright could play following a groin injury.

Barnet will be confident of continuing their fine run against a side that has only won once this season, but if Ben Wright is playing he could score again against the side that he turned down to join Lincoln. However, Barnet Mad are going to be optimistic and go for a 2-0 win for the Bees.