Silkmen Promotion Would Just Top The Lot For Pilkington

The Silkmen still lead the way thanks to Tuesday night’s late win over Gateshead at the Moss Rose and travel to Woking on Good Friday for a live BT Sport fixture.

Despite working with a much smaller budget than most of their rivals, Macclesfield have been superb. A small, tight-knit squad galvanised by their brilliant manager John Askey.

Pilkington is in his fourth season with the Silkmen and has established himself as one of the best defenders in the division, winning the club’s Player of the Season three years on the trot.

The 36-year-old lifted the Conference title with Mansfield Town in 2012/13 and the EFL Trophy in 2009 with Luton Town at Wembley.

But winning the National League with Macclesfield would be the icing on the cake of a distinguished career.

“Without a doubt it would be up there - I think it would be my best achievement really,” Pilkington told us ahead of training on Thursday.

“Every year the gaffer has improved the squad and going up would top it off nicely. But we won’t get ahead of ourselves. When you start to talk about it, you start dreaming and that’s a difficult position to put yourself in.

“I wouldn’t say I was a big part of the promotion push at Mansfield but it was still a great feeling to experience that.

“Every game is a tough one at this stage of the season, regardless of league position and Woking will be desperate to get points on the board.

“It was a difficult game when we played them at home but we’ll prepare right and stick to our principles. All we can focus on is ourselves.

“We’ve never looked too far ahead and that won’t change now. We’ve shown character throughout the season and we’re now into the final push.”

You don’t have to tell Pilkington how hard the National League is to get out of. A former Luton Town player, he experienced two play-off final defeats during his time at Kenilworth Road.

But even in the twilight of his career, the ex-Port Vale defender admits it would be a “dream” to return to the Football League after four years away.

“I’ve been in play-off finals a couple of times and not been successful - the National League is very tough,” he added.

“I’m making plans for after football but I’m still enjoying it and I just want to keep playing whilst the motivation is there.

“It would be a dream to get back in the Football League. You never quite know if you’ll get the chance again and it would be something to get really excited about.

“I’m at the latter stage of my career now and I just want to enjoy my football. There’s no better way to do that than winning games and hopefully we can keep doing it and see what happens.”

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