Fitness fears as Notts return

AWAY TRIP AFTER TWO-WEEK BREAK

GREG Abbott admits the Notts County players who have recovered from coronavirus have been put through their paces in training but is unsure on the quality of their match fitness.

The Magpies are due to return to action when they travel to face Aldershot today (3pm) which is their first game back after an enforced two-week break after several players contracted Covid-19.

Another round of testing has given the squad a clean bill of health and those who were affected are now set to be involved in the National League away clash against the Shots.

The players have all trained this week and while assistant boss Abbott says they look okay, whether they can last a full 90 minutes is unknown.

“They look alright, but the proof will be on Saturday,” he said.

“It’s all right doing controlled training sessions in a governed environment but when they’re out there on Saturday in a match, then a 90-minute situation could be slightly different.

“We’ve done a lot of testing, we’ve done a lot of work to find out where they are and they don’t look bad.

“But whether that not bad is perfect then we’re not going to find out until Saturday and it may be a tough one, fitness-wise to find out where they actually are.

“They look ok but matches are different. We’re not making excuses but we will find out the real crux of it when the game’s about half-an-hour old.”

Despite the rising amount of Covid cases across football, teams are still restricted to making three substitutes which is the same for the Premier League.

Ardley had been a vocal supporter of increasing it to five during a managers’ meeting before the campaign started but it fell on deaf ears.

Asked whether that rule should have been changed to help teams look after players’ fitness, Abbott said there would be some clubs who would have claimed it to be unfair.

“I think you’d probably get different opinions across the league,” he said.

“The team with the strongest squad would probably say yes. And the other teams would say that gives them a disadvantage because they have less scope to choose.

“They might argue that three make it more of a level playing field.

“I’m just hoping that the boys we’ve got are fit, well and go and compete.

“I’m hoping that we go out there, we play and we do ourselves proud, do ourselves justice and we get the right result, regardless of the illnesses.

“But it’s something that’s in the back of people’s minds.”

Notts County players celebrate Ruben Rodrigues’ goal against Maidenhead United in the Magpies’ last game, a 3-2 defeat in the National League on October 17. The Magpies have not played since because some of their players tested positive for Covid-19 and assistant manager Greg Abbott ( below left) has concerns about their fitness following their enforced two-week break ahead of today’s return to action away against Aldershot Town.