By PON_News
Notts County head coach Stuart Maynard has expressed his pride in the team's unbeaten start to the League Two season as they prepare to face Gillingham at Meadow Lane on Saturday.
The Magpies have won four and drawn two of their opening six matches, leaving them top of the table, a position that Maynard is keen to defend in the upcoming top-of-the-table clash.
Speaking ahead of the Gillingham fixture, Maynard highlighted the hard work and mentality of his squad, particularly their ability to remain calm under pressure.
"I think we've talked about it a lot, our work ethic," Maynard began. "It's been a huge credit to the lads, the mentality. We've been behind in games and come back, and I think that's a real sign of the character within the group now."
Maynard referred to Notts County's 4-2 victory away at Bromley, where the team had to overcome adversity after conceding early.
"When we've gone behind, we've stayed calm, especially on Saturday away at Bromley, which was very difficult. We stayed calm and played our way back into the game," he said, crediting the team’s resilience for turning the match around.
One of the standout aspects of Notts County’s early season form is their attacking prowess, having scored 14 goals across six matches.
This goal-scoring form is all the more impressive given the departure of star striker Macaulay Langstaff in the summer. However, Maynard insists that the team’s unpredictability in attack has allowed them to maintain their threat.
"I think if we were predictable, it would be very hard to keep scoring the amount of goals that we've scored," Maynard explained. "We've kind of looked at it in a lot of different ways when we're attacking different teams now to make sure that we can keep creating good chances for our forwards."
He singled out the impact of David McGoldrick, who has been a consistent presence in front of goal this season. "Didzy... he's anomalous so. But yeah, we believe that we're creating very good chances, and the lads have been very clinical as well."
The Notts boss also acknowledged the importance of spreading goals across the team, with players like Jodi Jones and Dan Crowley contributing significantly.
"It's very key because everyone has dips in forms during the season," he said. "We've looked a real threat and a real danger this season from set pieces, the way that we're delivering the ball."
On the defensive side, Maynard pointed out that a more solid backline has given the team the platform to express themselves going forward. "I think we attacked in a similar manner at the back end of the season, but we conceded a lot of sloppy goals, and it sucks the confidence out of the whole group," he reflected. "If you look this season now, the confidence is there."
Maynard is cautious but optimistic about the upcoming challenge against Gillingham, a side that has only conceded two goals so far.
"It's going to be a very tough game," he admitted. "They're defensively very solid. They're a good team, and I think they're expecting to probably be in and around it for a promotion push as well this season."
Despite the early position at the top of the table, Maynard remains grounded, viewing each game as a different challenge. "Every game that you go into, there's different challenges within different games, and I think Gillingham will pose a different challenge to what we've probably had against us this season," he said.
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Maynard emphasised the need for squad depth and tactical adaptability. "We've got to be unpredictable... it's not always the starting eleven that will win you a game of football," he added.
With a confident squad and a solid tactical plan, Notts County will be looking to extend their unbeaten run and stay top of the table in what promises to be an exciting contest against Gillingham.
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