We will have to be good enough to take the heat
ALEX Lacey believes Notts County are one of the biggest scalps in the National League and insisted they must be “good enough” to deal with the pressure.
Maidenhead United inflicted Notts’ second defeat of the season last weekend and broke out in raucous celebrations after the final whistle, similar to when Dover Athletic claimed a 1-0 win over Neal Ardley’s side on the opening day of the campaign.
With Notts considered one of the title favourites this season, allied with their history and status, they are largely considered as the biggest clubs in the division.
And Lacey has noticed that is having an impact on the pitch, particularly this season as they are rated by the bookies as one of the favourites to reclaim their place in the Football League.
“We’re definitely (scalps),” he said.
“I think after the Dover game you saw their celebrations after the final whistle as well.
“I think maybe teams give themselves an extra couple of per cent when they play against the bigger teams in the division but, you know, it comes with the territory.
“We have to make sure we deal with that and I’m sure there are other teams and in the division with a history of being in the league, like Notts County, that they are looking up there forward to playing.
“They sort of pick out their dates when they’re playing them so, as I said, it comes with a territory and we just got to make sure that we’re good enough to deal with that.”
Notts’ preparations for last weekend’s game were hit by positive Covid tests, with four key players ruled out of the 3-2 defeat against Maidenhead.
The club did not name the players who had contracted the illness but the team sheet told its own story as Callum Roberts, Dion Kelly-evans, Jim O’brien and Richard Brindley were all missing.
Notts missed their influence on the pitch but Lacey felt the defeat proved there are elements they need to improve on especially set-pieces.
“In the first half, we passed the ball around pretty well and we’ve got into some good situations,” he said.
“But, once again on set pieces, we need to tighten up on that.
“I think we lost points out at Dover because of set-pieces as well.
“So there are small things we need to rectify at the minute because they’re costing us points.
“Hopefully, once we get those things rectified, we can really push on have a very strong season, but I think they’re obviously fine details that we need to improve on to make sure we’re not giving away sloppy goals.”