A sadness looms over Notts County after the devastating new around the loss of Notts County Chief Executive Jason Turner, who has sadly passed away at the age of 50. Turner will always be remembered by Notts fans for his relentless work off the pitch since he took the role in 2016 and the vital position he played in the club’s survival when loomed with administration. The whole of Notts County and everyone involved with the club feel a deep sadness for his passing and wish his family and friends their most sincere condolences.

Notts vs Wealdstone

With Wrexham currently leading the title race by three points and with a game in hand to their advantage, Notts must maintain their winning form against mid-table Wealdstone to continue pushing the Welsh outfit until the very end. Three points on Easter Friday will indicate how the title race is far from over if Luke Williams (Notts County Head Coach) and his well-drilled side have a say in the matter with the game of the season looming on the 10^th April, when Notts travel to Wales in possibly the biggest game in National League history…sweaty palms all round.

But the upcoming fixture is very much the focus as ‘The Magpies’ need to gain another huge three points as the season begins to come to a close, as they continue their relentless pursuit of the National League title. Luke Williams has openly said he believes the title race is over however his thinking is being disputed by Notts fans as mind games to alleviate pressure off of the Notts players. Others however are unhappy with his comments due to being too negative and because of such, the phrase “it’s not over until the fat lady sings” is being thrown around a lot on twitter. Either way, Notts need a win.

In my opinion Wealdstone have gone above and beyond this season and have outperformed expectations with a lot of people (including myself) having them as a relegation favourite at the beginning of the season. Wealdstone currently find themselves in 10^th place with 56 points to their name coming into this fixture, eight points off a play-off position. It’ll take a miracle but its not out the question completely for “The Stones” to reach the lottery which is the play-offs. Notts however have already guaranteed themselves at least play-offs whilst they sit in 2^nd place; 33 points clear of the 7^th place Eastleigh and 25 clear of 3^rd place Woking and only three points away from the magic 100 points for a season which hopefully will be breached on Easter Friday.

In the reverse fixture at Grosvenor Vale Notts triumphed over the hosts in a 6-1 thrashing with goals coming from all over the pitch for Notts, with the first coming from the clubs now leading goal scorer for a single season Macaulay Langstaff just three minutes in before Chicksen was able to double the lead on 24 minutes. The playmaker Matt Palmer made it three on 31 minutes before Chicksen got his brace on the stroke of half time. It took only one minute of the second half before Notts scored again with Frenchman Aaron Nemane getting on the scoresheet. ‘The Magpies’ finished their tally just 10 minutes later with Bajrami getting the sixth of the afternoon on 55 minutes. Wealdstone were able to get a goal back on the 61^st minute through Micah Obiero but sadly for the hosts it didn’t ignite the comeback of the season and they suffered a heavy defeat, losing 6-1.

Notts come into this game off the back of a classy 2-0 victory over a fighting Altrincham team with goals from Langstaff (who’d have guessed) and our Portuguese magnifico Ruben Rodrigues as they look towards Wealdstone as a chance to make it three wins in a row. Notts have won four of the last five games with only a draw to play-off hopefuls Barnet being the match disrupting the perfect record. In the last five games, Notts have scored an impressive 13 goals and conceded only three.

Wealdstone’s most recent fixture was with Aldershot which was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch meaning they haven’t played a full competitive game since the 28^th of March when they drew 2-2 with David Unsworth’s Oldham Athletic with goals for “The Stones” from Olufela Olomola and Sonny Blu Lo-Everton to seal a point. Wealdstone have only won one of their last five games, losing three and drawing the most recent. In those games they have managed to score only the three goals and conceded 12 in that time.

There’s no question around Notts’ fantastic form this season, home and away, but in over a year Notts have only been defeated once at home in the league and that was in the most recent matchup between themselves and Dagenham and Redbridge at the back end of February. As we move forward in the season to the closing stages, I believe the home advantage becomes more of an advantage, with the larger home crowds to cheer us past that finishing line and Notts need to make sure they make it count whilst they can.

Wealdstone despite having a good record overall which is evidenced by their current standing in the table, are a better team at home which is going to be more of a struggle as they visit the formidable Meadow Lane. Of the 56 points they’ve secured so far this season, only 24 of those have been from away matches, in comparison they’ve gained 32 from home matches.

Wealdstone, despite not scoring many in the recent five fixtures, have some quality attacking threat which Notts need to be weary of despite tied top scorer Rhys Browne having made a move to play-off contender Woking. Micah Obiero and Olufela Olomala are two which Notts really need to keep an eye on with seven goals each for the season so far and with 14 total goal scorers for the season (excluding Rhys Browne), goals can come from anywhere, we just hope ,as Notts fans, we have the defence to combat it and the goalscoring power to outscore if needed.

The goal power from Notts will also come from anywhere on the pitch but especially from the main man stealing the headlines, Macaulay Langstaff who moved onto 40 goals for the season. Wow. However, it’s easy to then forget the influence the likes of Scott, Chicksen and obviously Ruben Rodrigues has had on the squad this year, with 41 goals between just them three, one of which is a full back and another has been injured for the past few weeks. Notts are a well-oiled goal machine.

Notts county come into this game as definite favourites considering table placement and the most recent games however as we know, the National League is brilliant for a shock result and Notts could really do with avoiding any of them until the end of the season. Wealdstone going forward have little to play for unless it’s a late play-off push but that could mean they are the most dangerous of opponents.

*Article provided by Matthew Dudley (Notts County Correspondent).

*Main image @Official_NCFC Jason Turner was integral to Notts since 2016.