We take our regular look at the men who might make a difference on Saturday.

Man in the Middle:
Tony Bates is one of the longest serving and most experienced referees in the game. He has been in the Football League for as long as the Silkmen, with his first game coming in 1997.

He first took charge of the Silkmen in that first season in a 1-0 home defeat to Preston in what is now the Johnstone's Paints Trophy.

He was then in charge of both of the Silkmen's FA Cup matches with Slough the following season as the replay went to penalties which Macc won 9-8. There were two matches the next season as well, first another JPT match as Macc lost 3-2 to Rochdale and later in the season a 0-0 draw at Leyton Orient in 2000.

01/02 saw a 1-1 draw at Shrewsbury before he took charge of three matches in 02/03. The first was a trip to Bury, which was lost 2-1 and a month later the Silkmen travelled to Hull in the FA Cup and won 3-0. Finally the Moss Rose saw a 2-1 win over Southend.

The next time he took charge of a Macc game wasn't until 2005 and a 0-0 home draw with Notts County. The next season saw another home draw, but a more entertaining one as the Silkmen drew 3-3 with Accrington.

The last time our paths crossed was at Edgely Park in 2008 when County were 2-0 winners.

This weekend's game will be his 29th match of the season and to date he has shown 82 yellow cards and just one red.

One to Watch:
A prolific goalscorer last season with 21 Paul Benson is in fine goalscoring form this campaign. He has already found the back of the net on fifteen occasions, including four in one game in a 5-0 win over Shrewsbury.

Signed for the Daggers in 2005, he was picked up from non-League football after being spotted playing for 'White Ensign' who had finished the Essex Intermediate League as Champions two seasons running, no doubt mainly down to Paul's 96 goals in that time.