Magpies fired up for away test in Trophy
BOSS SAYS NOTTS WILL GO ALL OUT FOR WIN
NEAL Ardley says Notts County’s motivation is undimmed ahead of a trip to face Havant & Waterlooville in the FA Trophy fifth round tomorrow.
The Magpies have played only 17 National League games this season after a series of coronavirus and weather-related postponements, including Tuesday night’s game against Bromley.
It could be argued defeat away in the fifth round tie would do Notts a favour in terms of their promotion ambitions. However, with a Wembley final a major incentive and uncertainty the season will even continue much longer, Ardley says his team will go all out to win.
“We had not planned for this game. We were focused on Tuesday night, counting bodies and looking at how we’d get through this week,” he said.
“We’ll prep on Friday. We can have a good day.
“It’s about making sure the synergy is there and knowing what to expect from Havant. They’re doing well on a 3G pitch.
“They’re a few games behind but if they win them they’ll be right up there in their league (National League South).
“The boys have to be up for it. The hard part is, you can say it’s another game and we’re better off out of it, but it’s hard not to want to win games when you’ve not played enough so far.
“The boys want to stay unbeaten and there’s lots of reasons to give it everything you have got.”
Ardley admits the ongoing uncertainty which exists from game to game has impacted on the way he works.
“It was hard on Tuesday. The weather forecast wasn’t great,” he said.
“You can’t beat mother nature. It’s not just that we’re battling, but also the pandemic.
“We worked really hard last week with guys clearing the snow to get the game on. This time the water was just too much, no matter how hard everyone tried.
“We still trained. We went upstairs behind the stand. We call it the sweatbox, the 3G area.
“We could have had them in on Wednesday and trained but while we were there we got a real good sweat on and we had a real good session on Thursday as well.
“It’s hard in general this season. I’ve had to change how I work a bit.
“When I’ve worked with sports psychologists we’ve spoken about naming the team on a Friday before a game to give clarity but it’s been very difficult this year.
“At Weymouth we had uncertainty, then against Solihull and on Tuesday. It’s really hard with everything that’s going on to plan ahead.
“You normally know about an hour and a half before kick-off that the game is definitely going ahead!”
Notts will be without longer-term absentees left-back Damien Mccrory and winger Callum Roberts but the rest of the squad is available.