Macclesfield reporter gives the lowdown on Brentford’s FA Cup opponents | OneFootball

Sixth-tier Macclesfield head into Monday night’s FA Cup tie against Brentford (7.30pm kick-off) looking to test themselves against another Premier League opposition, explains local reporter Matt Hancock-Bruce, after the Silkmen beat top-flight Crystal Palace in the previous round.

He outlines their recent form and momentum in the National League North, the key players driving their run, and what Keith Andrews’ Bees should expect from the non-league side.

First of all, how would you say Macclesfield’s season has gone so far on the whole?

Last season was really positive for the club because it was a relatively comfortable promotion journey out of the Northern Premier League and, coming into this season, there were very high expectations, both inside and outside of the club.

In the non-league world, Macclesfield are seen as a big name and there was a lot of expectation they would do the same again: come into the National League North and absolutely steamroller it, so in that sense, some people over-egged where they were going to go.

Just before the start of the season, Robbie Savage left, which was not totally unexpected as there were rumours he would go, but a lot of Macclesfield fans expected him to go somewhere a little bit higher, with no disrespect to Forest Green Rovers. If he had gone to an EFL team, I think it would have been accepted a little bit more.

That was quite a blow, but John Rooney has done a quite fantastic job stepping up to management.

So, it was a rough start - maybe not as hopeful as many had expected - but they seem to be getting on track now.

The Crystal Palace game was the big moment of the season and it is hard to look past that, especially for people outside of the club. That was a ridiculously incredible achievement and, since then, they have got on a nice roll, with five league wins from the last six games since then.

Along the way, they have achieved some big results: they beat promotion rivals Kidderminster Harriers 5-1 and, last Tuesday, came from one goal down to beat Leamington 3-1.

It is going to be an interesting end to the season because they have had quite a few postponements, both down to their own success in the FA Cup and because some away games have been getting postponed due to the weather. They have got up to four games in hand on some of the teams, so it is going to be a busy few months.

The club hit the headlines last month after the famous third-round win over Crystal Palace. Can you sum up just how incredible that day was?

I am gutted to say I was on holiday for that game!

I was watching the third-round draw, knowing I was going to be away, thinking that I wanted them to get an amazing draw but, when they were drawn against the FA Cup holders, it was so frustrating!

When I was getting texts through from the journalist who covered the game in my absence, I could not believe it! I knew Macclesfield would give it a go, but to get the win was something else altogether. The buzz around town and on social media since has been insane.

It has been a difficult few years for Macclesfield, with the club starting up again, and getting all the fans back has not been as easy as they might have thought, but that game reignited something. There is a newfound passion for the team and the town as well.

Around town, you cannot really talk about anything else other than Macclesfield at the moment - it is quite literally the talk of the town and there are businesses that may not have cared about football before, but they do now.

There is even a café called ‘All Things Nice’ who have started selling a blueberry cheesecake croissant with a Macclesfield badge on it after that historic win at Moss Rose.

Whatever happens from here, it has been an incredible run so far, which is great for the history books. But it is invaluable to the finances of a non-league club, too, isn’t it?

Yes, definitely. Macclesfield do have these big aspirations - there is no uncertainty, both with management and the ownership, that they want to be back in the EFL as soon as they can, so this is hopefully going to really help.

They have made ambitious signings like Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, who started out at Manchester United, and others who have EFL experience, so hopefully they can get some more players of that calibre in.

Which player should Brentford fans be keeping an eye out for on Monday night?

It is difficult, but the one I have gone with is D’Mani Mellor, a striker who also started out at Manchester United.

Over the last 18 months or so, the star man for Macclesfield has been Danny Elliott, who is now the club’s record goalscorer, and he has 15 goals in the league and FA Cup. However, he suffered an injury just after Christmas, so he missed the Palace game. Soon after that match, he signed a contract extension, but it was announced that he was going to miss the rest of the season.

So, the challenge there has been replacing all of the goals he contributed, and Mellor has stepped up. He has always been quite prolific for Macclesfield but, since stepping into the main striking role, he has really taken his game to another level and, in the win over Kidderminster I mentioned, he scored a hat-trick, taking him to eight goals already in 2026.

He is that guy who is in the right place at the right time, which, when you are playing against Premier League opposition, is going to be really important.

What should Keith Andrews’ men expect from the Silkmen, in terms of shape and style?

It is going to be a bit harder to predict than usual because they are playing against a Premier League team and cannot expect to play their normal way.

Macclesfield’s usual formation is either a 4-3-3 or a 4-1-4-1, fluctuating a bit between the two, but they have quite a consistent line-up.

The word I would use to describe how they are going to go at it would be 'intensity', which was clear from the Palace game, when it took about four seconds for the captain to go flying in with a header, which meant he had to wear that iconic headband for the rest of the game! That symbolises the attitude they will take into the game and I do not expect that to be any different against Brentford.

Set-pieces, too. The opening goal against Palace came from a set-piece and I would imagine they will try to use that again, though that might be a challenge because everyone knows how good Brentford are when it comes to that part of the game.

What’s your score prediction?

This was the hardest one! The fact that Macclesfield beat Palace makes it impossible to predict because I do not think you would have found anyone who would have guessed that would happen.

I do not think Brentford will make the same mistakes Palace did, and it has shown since that defeat that you cannot afford to slip up against non-league opposition.

There is that heart and determination with Macclesfield, so I am sure they will put on a proud display, but I am going to go with a 3-1 Brentford win.