A historic weekend awaits the Silkmen. 

Macclesfield will take on FA Cup holders Crystal Palace in the third round this Saturday, December 10 live on the BBC.

It is the first time the club has reached the third round of the cup since reforming in October 2020, and the first time the Silkmen will play in this round since 2013.

Crystal Palace go into the game winless in their last eight games, and with the Silkmen winning on Tuesday against Radcliffe, manager John Rooney can have some confidence in his players to get a result.

Speaking to the media ahead of this tie, Rooney was looking forward to the game and thought it would be brilliant if the Silkmen could get a result.

He said: "It's a massive occasion for the football club, and some of our lads have never got past the first round of the FA Cup, and to get to the third round and drawing a Premier League side, that may never happen again."

Macclesfield come into the game huge underdogs and have not got past the first round since reforming, so to play in the third round is a great achievement for the club.

Rooney said: "We know we're massive underdogs but that'sthe special thing about the FA Cup, on the day anything can happen in the competition.

"I think we see it every round, there's always a big upset, so fingers crossed it could be us.

"The FA Cup is a crazy competition at times, and we've seen massive upsets so often." 

Despite being huge underdogs, Rooney wants his players to put on a show for the audience and play with confidence.

He said: "I want them to go and play with freedom, and it's a chance for the lads to go and express themselves in front of a massive audience.

"The lads are all ready for it, it's going to be a good day, but we need to go and perform as well.

"I want them to go and enjoy it; it could be the last time they get to play in the third round against a Premier League side."

The occasion will not only be great for the players and the club but will impact the local community massively.

Speaking about how important the home advantage will be, Danny Elliott said: "It's such a community club and you can see the way that it affects everybody.

"You see the lines for the tickets outside the ground over the last week and how quickly it has sold out.

"I think being able to give them a brilliant day on Saturday and potentially another day after that would just be incredible."

Danny Elliott and the rest of the team have been looking forward to their matchup against Crystal Palace since the draw took place.

Elliott said: "I think it's been building for weeks, the lads are so excited about it, and in the changing room this morning everyone's getting texts off friends and family looking forward to the game.

"For a lot of the lads this is the first time they're playing in the FA Cup and the first time on the BBC, and the lads are so, so excited by it."

Elliott, who scored a hat-trick against AFC Totton in round one, is looking forward to facing Premier League opposition.

He said: "I think the atmosphere here is going to be something that I've never personally experienced, and I think it's going to be absolutely fantastic.

"It's going to be probably the hardest FA Cup game we've ever had, but anything can happen and I'm just going to enjoy the opportunity being live on BBC as well as having friends and family watching from home.

"I think it would just be absolutely incredible to get something out the game, and to play the holders with all these David against Goliath stories, to get something out the game would be fantastic."