Stockport captain Paul Turnbull has backed caretaker manager Peter Ward to become a permanent appointment.
Skipper salutes caretaker manager
Stockport captain Paul Turnbull has backed caretaker manager Peter Ward to become a permanent appointment at Edgeley Park.
Ward stepped up from assistant boss following the sacking of Paul Simpson at the start of January and his first victory came at home to fifth-placed Bury on Saturday, lifting them off the bottom of League Two.
Port Vale assistant Geoff Horsfield has this week been linked with the Stockport job, leading Ward to call for the club to clear up the uncertainty over the manager's position.
But Turnbull claims the speculation is not affecting the players and insists Ward has their full backing.
"He's there at the moment and we all see him as the gaffer," the midfielder told
skysports.com.
"The chairman's said he's there for the foreseeable future so the lads are right behind him.
"I think all the players get on with him really well and hopefully we can keep picking up points and do Wardy a favour, and hopefully he'll get the job on a permanent basis."
Massive
Last weekend's victory was only Stockport's sixth in the league this term and they will aim to clinch back-to-back wins for the first time this term at home to Macclesfield this Saturday.
Macc have slumped to 21st in League Two after a run of 10 games without a win, and Turnbull believes it is vital the Hatters inflict more misery on their Cheshire rivals.
"It's a great game for us to have next up," he said. "It was a massive win last Saturday and Bury have been doing much better than Macc so hopefully we can get another victory.
"We need the points to start pushing up that table and if we win on Saturday we'll go above Macc.
"They have a few games in hand so I think three points on Saturday is a must."
Although County claimed just two points from their previous nine games before Saturday, those draws came against promotion-chasing Chesterfield and Rotherham, while County also won 1-0 away to Bury in November.
Standard
But the Hatters have failed to back up any of those results and Turnbull has told his team-mates they must maintain their momentum if they are to avoid slipping into non-league for the first time in the club's 111-year history.
"We had to start winning games and the Bury result is a start, but we've managed to produce good performances before," he added.
"When you have one good performance then you've set yourself a standard so you can't go into the next game and drop your standard because you'll get beat, and that's what's been happening for us.
"Wardy's told us in training to get in the opponents' faces, stop them playing and try to nick a goal - and it worked on Saturday.
"I think we have to do that every week now. Even away from home I think we've got to do the same. Our away performances haven't been good recently.
"Our fans are great and with the home games we've got coming up and with that crowd behind us, we've got to be winning them."
