Brindley is determined not to miss out this time
DEFENDER HAS BEEN LOVING HIS TIME AT NOTTS
RICHARD Brindley hopes Notts County can make it third time lucky in the National League play-offs and return to the Football League.
The Magpies booked their place in the top seven at the weekend as they cruised to a 3-0 win over Altrincham which puts them odds on to finish fifth in the table.
It will give Notts another chance of returning to the EFL since their relegation in 2019 having experienced play-off agony in the last two seasons against Torquay United and Harrogate Town.
And Brindley hopes this will be the year when Notts go down in history and return to the club where the fans feel they belong.
“I hope it is going to be our year,” he said.
“If you look at the previous years everyone has looked at us and gone we are the favourites here.
“If we’re being honest, this year with all the money that has been spent at Wrexham and Stockport County, they’re being looked at as favourites.
“People are looking at us as a little bit like underdogs in a way. That isn’t bad I think. I am really happy with the fact that we are able to handle these games.
“It’s not easy to handle these final games with the pressure and the expectation. But looking at it from a different point of view from the sidelines, the lads have been brilliant to manage that.
“I hope this year will be our year.” Brindley will be available for the play-off campaign having made his long-awaited return from injury in the win over Alty.
He played the full 90 minutes as Notts coasted to victory courtesy of second-half goals from Callum Roberts,
Kyle Wootton and Ruben Rodrigues.
With Notts fans dreaming of promotion, Brindley is eager to achieve a stunning return to the EFL having been part of the last two attempts which ended in heartbreak.
The former Rotherham United defender said that since arriving at Notts, it has become one of the happiest times of his career and wants to lead them back to League Two.
“I was speaking about it the other day with a friend of mine about how I was finding it here,” he said.
“I said that I absolutely love it. He said you’re so happy there. He’s known me 10-15 years and remembers me being in the Championship and said you weren’t necessarily the
happiest. But he says every time I ask you about Notts, you’re like I am really enjoying it. That tells me everything I need to know over the past two or three seasons that I am so happy here.
“To get a promotion at the club has been a massive objective of mine. I am very passionate about completing it.”