Supporters will get a first look at summer signing Jim McNulty on Saturday, with the defender set to make an appearance at the Moss Rose.
McNulty picked up an infection in his shin after cutting his leg while in Tenerife, but has now fully recovered.
He sat out of Sunday’s game against AFC Fylde as precaution and missed Tuesday night’s trip to the Deva Stadium after his wife gave birth to a baby girl.
Speaking to Dale Player, Manager Keith Hill commented: “Jim’s wife gave birth to a baby daughter after the AFC Fylde game and he went straight to the hospital and spent two days there.
“I wasn’t too overly concerned because after picking up that shin problem it was about rest and recuperation and getting him ready.
“We were always wanting to play him this Saturday and we weren’t going to play him in any part of the game on Tuesday anyway, but he spent Monday and Tuesday at the hospital. He trained Wednesday to freshen up and I want to get as many minutes out of him as I can at Macclesfield on Saturday. He’ll start the game, but I’m not too sure whether he will finish it or not because that will depend on the standard and tempo of the game."
Ashley Eastham was forced to sit out the majority of the sessions at the T3 training camp after sustaining a foot injury.
It has been feared that he had Plantafasciitis, but a scan has shown best case scenario and Hill hopes that he’ll return to training next week.
“We’re hoping that Ash will be back in training on Monday. He has done a lot of running and he hasn’t had any reaction.
“We were expecting it to be about another two or three weeks before he could actually join back in but it looks as though that come Monday he could be joining back in.
“With Ashley, he’s got two hard weeks of pre-season to catch up on and it’s unfortunate because the majority of players need a good pre-season under their belt. That’s not always the case though when you consider what Stephen Dawson did from August onwards last season. It was an incredible achievement for him to play at such a high standard for so long when he hadn’t had a pre-season, so who am I to say.”
Rhys Bennett is still in a plaster cast after having a plate set in his forearm following his arm-break in Tenerife.
Hill jokes that for the time being he is helping out Jack the Kitman.
“We’re not too sure, but I hope he can play an active part in training in maybe two week’s time. At the moment he’s just the number two kitman and he’s helping Jack and Chris Beech tomorrow at Manchester United,” laughed Hill.