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Town got back to winning ways with a gritty performance away to Macclesfield Town at Moss Rose.

It was a tough first half but in the second Town were more of an attacking force and a superb finish from Steve Leslie gave them an important win.

After the game Town manager Paul Simpson spoke to the press with his thoughts on the game: "We knew that to come here today would require a gritty performance that might have to be horrible at times, and I think it's fair to say it was a horrible gritty performance that we put in.

"We have come away with the 3 points and at this time of the season that is the only thing that matters.

"If we want to achieve anything this season then we have to come to places like Macclesfield and roll our sleeves up, match them for work rate, for commitment and hope that we can get a little bit of magic from our players with ability.

"That's what has happened with Stevie Leslie coming up with a fantastic goal and it ends up with us getting the 3 points and in 4 or 5 days time no one will worry about how we got them."

Town's goal was a great team goal that started with a quick throw out from Dave Button and ended with a great curling shot from Steve Leslie: "It was a good break and good football all round to create what was a fantastic finish from Stevie.

"I thought we had a few other opportunities, especially in the second half when the game opened up a little bit and we had chances to get things in their box.

"We had to dig in early on as they put us under pressure but we also put ourselves under pressure as we gave away cheap free kicks away and allowed them to put balls on top of us.

"We held out, had a little bit of luck go our way and it is another good win for us."

The first half was a pretty forgettable one for both sides but the second was a totally different game.Town in the end edged the play thanks to a few changes to the formation at the break: "We changed it a little in the second half because Craig Disley isn't comfortable playing out on the wide right but he has had to do a job for the team out there.

"I just felt that we lost Craig Disley and Steve Leslie a little in the first half so we changed it around a little to try and get them on the ball more.

"I thought when we changed it it made a big difference to us, Craig Disley got involved and caused problems for us as did Steve Leslie.

"I've said after the game that I would like to see a little bit more from Lewis Nealbecause of his ability, but to be fair to Lewis when I took him off he was probably his most influential period of the game.

"I just felt I needed to make the change as Jake Robinson would give us that little bit more legs out there and in the end it was a good win."

There were two changes to the starting line-up but the one that raised eyebrows was Kelvin Langmead pushing into the right back slot.Simmo revealed that he felt he needed to get the experience of Graham Coughlan back in for this tough game: "I felt we needed we some strength, some height and some character in there and I felt it was important to get Graham Coughlan back in there.

"With Dean Holden not being fit I wanted to go with the experience and with the strength that we've got.

"I think it worked for us today because to come here you need to have some men to stand up against what is a tough side to play against."

Terry Dunfield was disappointed when he missed out on the Macclesfield game on Boxing Day but he put in an excellent performance today.It was a strong display from the ex Macc man and one that pleased his current gaffer: "He was excellent today but towards the end there was a couple of times he made me nervous putting balls back towards our goal and to their players.

"I think he's been excellent since he's come back into the side and had been a real bonus for us.

"I think it's hard to come back to an old club but Terry has come in and done his job, has hammered people around him when they needed it and done a great job for the team."