Ollie Norburn urges calm focus as Notts County prepare for tough Tranmere Rovers test

Notts County midfielder Ollie Norburn says he has “settled in really well” at Meadow Lane and believes the Magpies have the quality to challenge at the top end of League Two, but has urged calm and focus ahead of Saturday’s trip to Prenton Park.

The 32-year-old, who signed a one-year deal in the summer after leaving Blackpool, admitted he is still building full match sharpness after a long injury lay-off, but feels stronger with every appearance.

“Yes, settled in really well,” he said. “Very good club, good set of lads, good staff. I'm looking forward to the season ahead. I'm very optimistic, even though we would say we should have picked up more points so far, but we're remaining positive and looking forward to the weekend.”

Norburn missed a significant portion of pre-season and concedes it has taken time to catch up to speed. “It's not ideal really in terms of not having a proper pre-season with the group. I caught the last half an hour of the game at Cardiff and then in terms of match minutes, you're trying to play catch-up, which is always hard when the competitive football starts. I always knew it was probably going to take me a good few weeks to get up to speed and get in the match feel again after being out for 14, 15 weeks. I'm probably still finding my feet with that, to be honest. But with each game and each minute, I'm starting to feel better physically. Hopefully, this time in a few weeks, next month, I'll be fully up to speed and ready to attack what's ahead.”

Competition for places in the Notts midfield is fierce, with Matt Palmer, Tom Iopenda and Scott Robertson all pushing for selection. For Norburn, that challenge is something he relishes.

“It's good. Obviously, you've got to compete for a place and try and keep your shirt. Ultimately, then the decision lies with the manager. I guess that's his job to pick who plays, but all good players. I think anyone that would be chosen to play is a reliable, good player, especially at this level. So, no, it's all healthy and all good.”

Norburn has spent much of his career at a higher level, including the Championship with Peterborough United, but says Notts’ ambition was a key factor in his decision to move to Meadow Lane. “The ambition of the club and where they want to get to, how they do things and the way that the football tries to be played here. It was an attractive one for me. Hopefully we'll be pushing at the right end of the table, which I'm sure over the course of the season we'll be there or thereabouts with the quality that's in the squad. I'm fully optimistic and looking forward to what's ahead.”

Reflecting on his own journey, which included a spell in non-league before working his way back up to the Championship, Norburn highlighted the importance of resilience. “I think first and foremost there was probably a reason why I dropped into non-league at 22, 23 years old and the reason being I hadn't played enough games and all types of different things. You've got to try and earn your stripes back if you like and I think the lower down you go sometimes it's tougher, you've got to be mentally strong and resilient especially to fight your way back up and that's what I've done. The message would be to young players is you've got to be resilient, mentally strong. Sometimes in football, things can change very quick. Leave no stone unturned in terms of how you train, how you prepare. Basically, give it what you've got.”

Leadership has been a common theme throughout his career, with Norburn captaining several of his former clubs. While he acknowledges Matt Palmer’s role as Notts’ skipper, he sees himself as a vocal presence in the dressing room. “At most clubs I have been captain to be fair. Probably something that comes quite natural. Obviously, we've got the skipper here, Matt Palmer, who's a good skipper and probably leads in a different way, but I'd like to say I'm probably a little bit more vocal in terms of how I lead, in terms of speaking and that type of thing. But there's certainly different ways of how you can lead and lead by example.”

Saturday brings a return to one of Norburn’s old clubs, Tranmere Rovers, where he won promotion during his time at Prenton Park. He knows the challenge that awaits. “We know, as you guys will know, it's a tough place to go, so we've got to go there ready, prepared. If we can play our football and play that for a longer period through games, because we look back at games, we review, we assess, I think if we can really get a 90-minute performance together, I think there's not many teams that could live with us. It's all about us, concentrate on us, concentrate on what we do well. If we do and start putting together 90-minute performances, I'm sure we'll be fine.”

With Tranmere undefeated so far, Norburn believes composure will be crucial as Notts aim to get their season fully on track. “Yes, but we've got to remain calm with that because there is a lot of expectation here at the club, which is good and rightly so. There's good players, it's a good club, good fan base, but at the same time we've got to remain calm. We've got to concentrate on what we do and execute what we do. I'm sure if we start doing that over longer periods in games, the results will follow.”