POSITIVE SIGNS ON COMEBACK TRAIL FOR ROBERTS
CAL MAKING PROGRESS BUT NO DATE GIVEN FOR RETURN
NOTTS County boss Neal Ardley has provided a promising update on long-term injury victim Callum Roberts.
The talismanic winger has not featured for the Magpies since November, after undergoing surgery to strengthen his stomach lining.
It is hoped the operation will put an end to issues with inflammation in his groin and hip, and Ardley says the signs are promising – although he would not put a date on a potential return.
“So far, so good. He’s back on the grass now and he’s had an injection which seems to have done the trick so far,” said Ardley.
“I don’t want to speak too soon because every time I get excited we lose him again.
“But typical Cal, he’s already saying he wants to be fit for the weekend when he’s only just started training!
“Fingers crossed, if it all goes well, he could get some miles into his legs over the next couple of weeks and we’ll see where we go from there.”
Ardley was less complimentary about those players who were on the pitch on Tuesday night, however, despite his side coming away with three points.
A fourth successive National League win was claimed away against King’s Lynn Town as a wonder goal from Jake Reeves secured a 1-0 result for the visitors, with goalkeeper Luke Pilling also making some vital saves.
But the Magpies manager was not happy with his team’s performance.
“All I can take from it is we got the three points and it was job done. We weren’t at our best, by any stretch of the imagination,” said Ardley.
“We had a 20-minute spell in the whole game where we played well, at the start of the second half – after I’d had words with them.
“Other than that, I thought in the first half we were really loose with everything we did and King’s Lynn had the better chances all game.
“We were poor. We’ve managed to come through it with three points but we didn’t deserve them.
“I don’t think we did enough, other than the goal. We had a couple of great set-pieces we should have got on the end of, but I don’t think we did enough.
“We huffed and we puffed but I don’t think we created a lot.
“Reevesy scored a wonderful strike to win the game but all the best chances fell to the opposition.
“We were at sixes and sevens at times. It was an off-night for us. We weren’t as good as we can be, yet we came away with a win.”
Nevertheless, Notts sit third in the National League table, one point behind second-placed Sutton United and eight adrift of leaders Torquay United, who they have three games in hand on.
“We’ve got 44 games this season and you can’t play well in them all. You can’t be swashbuckling and brilliant in them all,” Ardley added.
“Sometimes you have to grit it out away from home, be dogged and take your chance when it comes.
“The best team lost, but we’ll take it because there’s been plenty of times when we’ve been the better team and not won.”