Danny Whitaker hails ‘great victory’ after Macclesfield beat Cambridge

Macclesfield caretaker-boss Danny Whitaker hailed a “great victory” over Cambridge after stepping in to lead his local club on Saturday.

The crisis club’s former midfielder took charge following Daryl McMahon’s resignation on Thursday and oversaw a 1-0 victory – their first win since October.

“It was a great victory,” Whitaker said. “We’ve been here before already this season so it’s nothing new for us but I thought the lads were magnificent, from one to 11. They put their all into it and got their just rewards in the end.

“They’ve proved in the past what a special group they are, churning out results with all the off-field issues that everyone’s aware of; so great credit to them.

“They’ve stuck at it today and got the result, got a big three points and hopefully that will kick-start the season.”

Macclesfield striker Arthur Gnahoua got the game’s only goal, sneaking a free-kick inside the near post five minutes in.

The hosts nearly added a second but Fraser Horsfall was denied by an offside flag.

Whitaker, who grew up in nearby Wilmslow, said his name was in the hat to become the Silkmen’s third permanent manager of the season.

“I’ve not had a proper conversation with the people in charge yet,” he added. “It’s been a short turnaround, just a case of getting today out of the way.

“But my name is in the hat, definitely, so it’s up to the powers that be – they’ll decide what happens going forward.

“There was no-one else to be in charge, to be honest, it was a short period of time to get things over to the lads. So it’s been hectic but it was all worth it.”

Meanwhile Cambridge manager Colin Calderwood was bitterly disappointed as – one bad miss from former Macc midfielder Paul Lewis aside – his team rarely troubled the hosts’ goal and chalked up their fourth defeat in five games.

“We’re really disappointed about our level in the first half; there are lots of areas that have to be so much better,” he said. “There was a bit more urgency in the second half that wasn’t there in the first half, though.

“We weren’t progressing up the pitch well enough and we needed more physicality up front. There were plenty of scraps up front but they weren’t in the areas that the ball fell into – we didn’t move quickly enough as the ball went forward.

“I don’t expect our front two to win every header but there was enough dropping down for us and our spatial awareness has got to be better.

“We didn’t compete well enough and our decision-making just wasn’t good enough.

“But we competed a little bit better in the second half and had that one really good chance for Paul Lewis.”