For those who can remember back to the mid 1980s there was a remarkable footballing statistics that got hauled out with annoying regularity. Liverpool never used to lose when Ian Rush scored.

The record was eventually broken in the 1987 Littlewoods Cup Final, when Charlie Nicholas scored twice for Arsenal after Rush had opened the scoring at Wembley. The run fell just short of 150 games.

So spare a thought for the Silkmen's Gareth Evans. The young striker joined the club in the summer after serving his apprenticeship at Crewe. And whilst he has had to be content with a place on the bench for large parts of the season, his performances have been enough to secure him an extended contract.

Goal number five for Gareth

From just nine starts and twenty from the bench, Gareth has weighed in with five goals. The latest came in Tuesday night's defeat at home to Grimsby. And that continued an equally remarkable run that has seen the Silkmen fail to win when he has scored.

"Yes it is frustrating. As a young forward starting out in the game you want to be scoring goals. And whilst I could have probably had a few more I have been relatively pleased with the five so far. It is just a shame that with the one exception against Rochdale when we drew 2-2 they haven't led to us picking up any points."

"The most important thing is for the team to be winning and whilst it's nice to score it doesn't really mean for much if we have lost. I've managed to score in the last two home games and I thought this week the goal would help us go on and win the game. But they hit us with a counter punch and we were left fighting to get back on level terms again."

"Grimsby probably had more about them than Lincoln the previous week so you have to give them some credit. But it would be nice to go to Sincil Bank this Saturday and get a bit of revenge. They had a good result in the week so it isn't going to be easy but I am hoping if I get picked I can get another one as all bar one of my strikes have come at the Moss Rose this season."

"We certainly need to start putting a run together as we don't want to go into the last few games of the season scrapping for points. I think it is inevitable you do start looking over your shoulder and glancing at the table especially as the teams below us have games in hand. But ultimately we need to concentrate on our game as if we put a run together it doesn't really matter what the other teams are doing."

"It is going to be a challenge but one I am looking forward to. I feel I am a better player than when I first joined the club and certainly feel a lot stronger. Of course I still have things to learn but I realise how fortunate I am to have this opportunity and I am loving every minute of it."