The Silkmen gave Stags a lot to think about, especially in the first half, as they threw themselves at the FA Cup first round clash at the One Call Stadium. Mansfield led at the break thanks to Nathan Moriah-Welsh’s opener but the Silkmen weren’t without chances of their own.

The National League North side looked more than capable when attacking on the break but couldn’t make their end products stick, especially with Liam Roberts producing some strong saves to keep the clean sheet.

His side may be out of the competition but Rooney believes they delivered a strong performance as a whole.

“I thought the lads were outstanding in the first half,” the manager said post-match. “We missed about six chances and it was down to the final bit of quality but their effort and commitment was outstanding against a good League One club.

“Goals change games. I think if we’d have scored in the first half, it would have changed the course of the game. The amount of times we got into their box in the first half – I thought it was more than them getting into ours.

“It was just down to that last little bit of quality in the final third, which I thought we lacked today.

Stags put the game to bed with goals from Rhys Oates and Jordan Bowery late in the second half but Macclesfield didn’t give up trying to find a way back into the match.

“I thought we looked like a constant threat for 90 minutes,” Rooney reflected. “The first 45 minutes we were a real threat, even late on we still looked a threat, but we were chasing the goal then and that’s when you leave yourself open at the back. But I couldn’t have asked any more from the lads.”