Notts Back In Trophy Action

Notts County return under the lights at Meadow Lane tonight as the Magpies welcome Altrincham for their FA trophy tie.

Ian Burchnall’s side come into this game off the back of a convincing 4-1 win over Southend United. Goals from Kyle Cameron and Cal Roberts as well as a brace from Kyle Wootton ensure the Magpies left with all three points on the day. In recent years, Notts County have not had much fortune with the FA Trophy. In fact, both entries into the competition have seen them exit as semi-finalists, firstly to Harrogate Town and secondly to Hornchurch last season via a penalty shoot-out defeat. However, despite previous misfortune in the trophy, Notts begin their third entry tonight in what will be hoped to turn out as ‘the third time lucky.’ Tonight’s hosts are scheduled to travel to Chesterfield this Tuesday evening to compete for a huge three points which could see some movement in the top six. Although this is scheduled to be the case, Chesterfield have cancelled their game today due to COVID-19 cases in their camp, leaving Notts’ visit in jeopardy. As this is the case, I wouldn’t expect too many changes to tonight’s starting line-up. With the possibility of the midweek game being postponed, I would imagine Ian Burchnall will be looking to field most of his strongest side ahead of what could be the final game prior to Kings Lynn Town on Boxing Day. If this is to be the case, I can’t see the Magpies having too many problems tonight.

As for tonight’s visitors, Altrincham are without a win in their last four. In their previous game, they fell to a 0-1 home defeat to Bromley courtesy of an Omar Sowumni goal in the thirty-first minute. Despite this, these two sides have already met this season. The Magpies travelled away to Altrincham earlier on in the season, on a day in which saw the Robins result as 1-0 winners due to a goal from Marcus Dinanga. However, since this day, Phil Parkinson’s side have only managed to win just the four and because of this poor run of form sit twelfth in the Vanarama National League. Despite having such a poor run of form, the Robins come to Nottingham this evening looking to put an end to the winless drought and proceed to the next round of the competition, maintaining the dream of all clubs in the competition in which is the trip to Wembley Stadium.

So, what can you expect from this fixture?

Although I expect a low attendance at Meadow Lane this evening, I believe those who make the effort to come out will not be disappointed by the quality on display. With the Magpies being the most in-form side in the league on home soil this season thus far, I can’t see them slipping up and falling to their second defeat at Meadow Lane this season. Although travelling Altrincham fans will be hoping for a big win in Nottingham, I believe they’ll be travelling home and having to wait until Boxing Day for the next opportunity to halt the poor current form.

With this being the case, my personal score prediction: Notts County 3-0 Altrincham.

Current form:

Notts County: LLDWW
Altrincham: WDLDL

Probable line-ups:

Notts County: Slocombe, Taylor, Brindley, Lacey, Cameron, Richardson, Vincent, Palmer, Roberts, Rodrigues, Wootton.
Altrincham: Thompson, Senior, Kosylo, Porter, Hampson, Moult, Hancock, Colclough, Mullarkey, Hannigan, Leitch-Smith.

Venue & time: