Fresh from the biggest victory of the season against Gillingham last time out, Town are on the road this weekend when we travel to Notts County knowing three points could put us within touching distance of the playoff positions.
And confidence will be high following the second-half performance against the Gills with Simon Weaver’s side still also having a game in hand on most of the sides immediately above them.
Our opponents
The 2023/24 season is the first for the Magpies back in League Two since their relegation in 2018/19.
County come into the game in sixteenth place on 52 points, seeing a downturn in form and results since the turn of the year when they were challenging the playoff positions.
They are the top scorers in League Two, having netted 80 times, but have conceded 79 goals with their fixtures averaging almost four goals per game.
At home they have drawn have just twice all season, winning 10 of their 20 games en route to taking 32 points but are winless in their last seven games at Meadow Lane and have won one of their past 10 overall.
Previous meetings
Earlier in the season Town triumphed 3-1 at The Envirovent Stadium. First-half goals from George Thomson and Abraham Odoh set them up, before Jodi Jones halved the deficit only for Matty Daly to net a third with twenty minutes remaining.
The two sides previously met in the truncated 2019/20 season. Notts had the initial upper hand after securing a 2-0 win at The Envirovent Stadium thanks to strikes from Kristian Dennis and Enzio Boldewijn. Town would get the upper hand though in the playoff final at Wembley thanks to George Thomson’s early goal before Connor Hall doubled the lead midway through the half.
Callum Roberts reduced the deficit immediately after the break but Jack Diamond’s goal twenty minutes from time saw Town earn a historic promotion.
The two sides then met in the delayed FA Trophy semi-final, which saw Town - by then a league club - edge out their opponents 1-0 thanks to Will Smith’s goal.
The man in charge
Stuart Maynard is in the dugout for the Magpies, having taken charge following Luke Williams’s departure to Swansea City.
Maynard had guided Wealdstone back into the National League after previously playing and coaching at various non-league levels.
To date, Maynard has won two of his 14 games in charge of the club.
Ones to watch
After netting 41 goals in their promotion campaign a year ago Macaulay Langstaff has netted 24 times so far this season at a rate of 0.60 goals per 90 to lead the League Two scoring charts.
Unsurprisingly, being the league's top scorers, there is plenty of goal threat in the squad with Daniel Crowley finding the target 14 times and veteran David McGoldrick adding 12 goals.
Midfielder Jodi Jones has an astonishing 23 assists to go with his five goals from midfield and Alassana Jatta has five goals in only four starts since joining from Viborg in early February.
History
Founded in 1862 the club is the oldest professional football club in the world and County were a founder of the Football League in 1888. The club play at Meadow Lane, their home ground since 1910.
In the late nineteenth century the club recorded two top three positions as well as winning the FA Cup final in 1894. The first half of the twentieth century saw the club mostly play in the second tier before relegations to the bottom tier saw them outside the top two divisions until the early 1970’s.
They secured a return to the top flight in 1980/81 and engineered a three season stay before relegation back to the third tier but Neil Warnock guided the club back to the top division in 1991. The club would again suffer relegations though before exiting the league entirely at the end of the 2018/19 season.
Team news
Simon Weaver will again be without Liam Gibson for Saturday’s encounter and faces late fitness calls on both George Thomson and Matty Daly.
