The 2nd match on Notts County's three match tour of Germany is against Bundesliga 2 side FC Kaiserslautern on Saturday 12th July at 12:30 BST at their Fritz Walter Stadium.

This match will be another tough test for Notts, but Head Coach Martin Paterson welcomes these matches against higher league opposition.

Martin believes that Kaiserslautern will be an even tougher test for Notts than Notts faced in their first match against Darmstadt & that match was tough especially in the first half.

We could see Martin play what he believes is his strongest team as his starting eleven however, I believe he will continue to give the whole squad & trialists a run out at some point in the game.

The Gaffer wants more physicality from the players.

It's going to be another good test, considering their level and their being in the same league as Darmstadt.

This standard of opposition is very useful for our preparation, as it will show who is ready and who needs to be pushed more.

good to see the pictures and video of the players training, i hope its not as hot there as we have it because i would find it hard to train in the heat. its great to see the lads pushing themselves, and its nice that martin paterson sees that our fitness levels are important for the success he wants to bring. fc kaiserlautern sound like another great test.

Our next hosts have posted some information for fans (only in German, but you can Google Translate it). Separating home and away fans (to the extent of giving Notts fans a different car park) is rather OTT for a training ground friendly. But the good news is that the game will be streamed live on their official YouTube channel!

Nice training facilities.

The new away kit gets a run out.

This is the Notts line up for the game today.

The match begins but Notts conceded within the first minute. A terrible attempted header back to our goalie by Reynolds let's Kaiserslautern in.

Kaiserslautern go 2:0 ahead.

Three central defenders really doesn’t suit the way our opponents are set up. The gap in quality and the amount of space they’re able to work with makes it feel like we’re a couple of players short. It’s almost like we’re playing with seven men.

I don’t think it’s a system we should be sticking with. Even though I know it’s likely the plan for the league, switching the formation makes more sense. At the moment, it’s less about defending properly and more like we’re being pulled apart and completely outnumbered at the back.

Notts 3:0 down after nine minutes.

Notts have arranged pre-season friendlies against teams we’re unlikely to compete with. The matches aren’t very entertaining, and I keep feeling like switching them off.

Number 14 made a brilliant run and won us a free kick, which led to a chance. Still, I kept wondering why he didn’t pass the ball out wide. I don’t mind players being a little greedy, but it doesn’t help the team, especially if the referee doesn’t give the foul.

When we don’t have the ball, they get more players behind it and stay well organised. You can tell FC Kaiserslautern are a strong side.

Notts, on the other hand, look all over the place. We’re making simple errors and playing in a rush.

They can defend with just three players and still look solid. Notts can’t do that, and even when we’ve got numbers back, our players seem more focused on watching the ball than trying to win it back.

Barry Cotter was sent off, but there was no punishment for the German players who tried to start a scuffle. It was a poor challenge and just adds to the feeling that these friendlies might not be the best idea.

The frustration is understandable, but you can’t react the way they did.

1 minute ago, NiftyNick said:

Barry Cotter was sent off, but there was no punishment for the German players who tried to start a scuffle. It was a poor challenge and just adds to the feeling that these friendlies might not be the best idea.

The frustration is understandable, but you can’t react the way they did.

It was a completely absurd decision. Cotter was late and caught his heel, it was definitely a yellow at least. But the Lautern player's completely over the top reaction convinced the ref to show red. As an aside, Jatta got a six-match ban for threatening behaviour in the playoffs. Redondo's antics were worse.

Having us see this game out with ten men makes no sense for either side. Do they want a competitive match or not?

Half time Kaiserslautern 3 Notts 0

Looked to me Notts hadn't turned up in the first 20 minutes. They were very sloppy & reminded me of the problems we had last season. Why not try four at the back

The positives are that Notts are trying to play football & look pacy when they attack.

The big downer at the end of the half was Cotter's stupid tackle from behind that go him sent off. It has ruined the game as a spectacle unfortunately.

Need to show their character now & avoid conceding another goal at least.

We obviously are punching well above our weight, their reactions are quicker than ours, and as soon as we get the ball they are all back defending and all want to play football, looking and moving for each other.we have alot to learn, unfortunately with only 10 men. Happy days.

Back to it.

Notts team for the last 30 minutes.

Notts trying to pass out from the back in a dangerous way led to a corner that led to the German side's fourth goal.

The Kaiserslautern players are first to the ball on most occasions. Notts are limited to going long now & losing possession.

Lots of work for the Notts Head Coach to do on this showing.

Full Time

Luckily we won't face a better team than this in the league. Yes they were excellent but it was a friendly and some of their antics were questionable to say the least. Anyway we have a mountain of work ahead of us. We need at least 1 striker. A goal scorer. That would give us all a lift.

After Darmstadt, another tough watch. Kaiserslautern's tempo, intensity and pressing had us flummoxed early on and it took us a while to deal with it. We looked more stable defensively in the second half. I'm still unhappy with Cotter being sent off as this denied one of our players the chance to play. Red cards make no sense in non-competitive games.

There's a lot of work to do, but hopefully this will have been illuminating for the management team. I think the game in Stuttgart will be a lot more even.

I’m not overly fussed about results in pre-season, it’s about getting fit and trying to put into practice new things from training. That said to go 3-0 down inside the first 10 minutes and look so off the pace is bad.

I’ve never seen a player lose their head in a friendly before, that was shocking from Cotter. I actually thought it was real nasty and needless challenge, zero attempt to get the ball, he just studded him right in the back of the ankle (and then ran off like a bit of a coward). It’s a friendly too, worst thing he should've done was to pull his shirt to stop him. That was like watching opposition players against us last season at times and I don’t want to see us turn into that.

Stuttgarter Kickers aren't at the same level as both Darmstadt and 1FC K, so hopefully we can end our time in Germany with a bit of positivity.