Worksop Town halt poor run to revitalise play-off hopes with win over rivals Macclesfield Town

Jay Rollins scored the only goal of the game on 55 minutes, just before the visitors were reduced to 10 men when John Rooney was given his marching orders.

The Tigers controlled the closing phases and, despite being unable to add to their lead, the hosts saw the game out to claim a much needed three points.

Parry was pleased with his team's resilience and urged people not to write his side off, saying: “I’m so glad. I’m really proud of all the lads.

“We’ve taken some hard knocks over the past couple of weeks and a lot have doubted us. “There was negativity flying around but you should never doubt these lads.

“It was an unbelievable performance after a tough week. We had a little bit of a team meeting, a heart to heart if you like to realign ourselves, but I've said it before - never doubt this group.

"When the chips are down these players stand up, and today they stood up. The message today was just that we’ve got nine games to go. We set a points target this week, we’re no longer going game to game, we’re instead going to look at the points.

“Today’s message was to make sure we took the handbrake off - at the end of the day we wanted energy. We went back to basics, flooding bodies forward, creating chances, energy, pressing teams high with a top work rate.

"That was the message from minute one and that message stayed the same at half-time - keep doing it and keep our foot down, no holding back and keep stepping onto them.

"If it turns into a boxing match then it’s a boxing match, they throw a punch then we’ll throw one and that’s how it’s going to be until the end of the season.”

Parry added: “We’re still in this 100 per cent. We ourselves know we’re in it, we know our run in.

"We’ve just got to keep ourselves in the mix and keep asking questions of teams, which we’ve done today. So I want my players to enjoy their weekends now because we’ve taken a lot of hits over the past couple of weeks.

"But when you look back and the season we’ve had, it has been unbelievable.”