Manchester United and Derby County can wait - Macc test is 'massive' for Cobblers

Cobblers were handed a huge incentive to beat Derby County in next week’s replay at Pride Park when they pulled out United in Monday’s draw.

But before then comes another important league fixture at Moss Rose as Town continue their pursuit of an automatic promotion spot.

Curle said: “I saw the draw on Monday and I spoke to the chairman about it afterwards but very quickly the conversation between myself and Kelvin moved on to the two very important games before the replay.

“It’s obviously in the background and rightly so but the main focus is Saturday and Macclesfield. We need to get the players rested and recovered.

“We’ll train Thursday and Friday and prepare right for a very important game.”

Macclesfield, currently third from bottom in League Two, were deducted six points for their ongoing financial problems earlier in the season but recently beat play-off hopefuls Forest Green and lost only narrowly at Newport County on Tuesday.

“It’s a massive game for us,” Curle added. “They’ve got a new manager in place and they’re fighting for their lives.

“We’ve got to show that hunger, that determination and that grit that we’re up for the challenge on Saturday.

“The changing room knows what the demands are and what the challenges will be. They’ve got a slightly different system but we can cause them problems.

“They’ve got some players that can also cause us problems so we need to have one eye on that. No matter who we play against, we show them the respect that they deserve and then we get ourselves up for the challenge.”