Game 9 - The Red Devils (H)
Team - Crawley Town
Date - 20/09/2025 14:00
Where - Meadow Lane

What would your starting line-up be? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be?

Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

There's doubts that myself, and Jake (@super_pie) will be fit enough to be part of the 12th man. I am looking forward to the game, I think it's a good chance to get back to winning ways and since we signed Nick Tsaroulla and Kellan Gordon (I am outdated, is he injured? He went off at Gillingham) from them I would hope that they can help us in terms of some insights into Crawley despite things having changed since they were there, it would be nice to see either player crop up with a goal for us.

It will be interesting to see if Martin Paterson sticks with two up top?

I would bring Scott Robertson on for Ollie Norburn, I don't think Norburn injects much energy into the side and Robertson has a good amount of chemistry with Matt Palmer. It could help overcome some of this disconnection we have in our midfield.

Aside from that, I can't see much changing but if I do feel well enough, I hope I don't watch us pass the ball back too much. Against Gillingham it did come at the cost of attacking, and was quite frustrating to see how lacking Notts were creaively.

It's true that there aren't any easy games in League 2, but if we are serious about promotion we have to be beating sides like Crawley at home. A fit Scott Robertson and a flying Jodi on the wing could be key for us going forward.

Notts need to get back to winning ways on Saturday if they are going to be regarded as serious playoff contenders.

I agree with @Chris that Scott Robertson should be a starter on Saturday. He should renew his partnership with Matt Palmer in the centre of midfield.

I do think it is important for Notts to revert back to one striker with Jatta leading the line & Dennis just behind in an AM position. Iorpenda could be the other player behind Jatta with Jones reverting back to being on the wing.

I also like the option of Jones & Tsaroula maybe swapping wings which could be a valuable change in tactics if it is seen as necessary by Paterson. I would also bring in Ness for Aljofree so my starting 11 would be,.

Roos, Ness, McDonald, Bedeau, Tsaroula, Palmer, Robertson, Jones, Iorpenda, Dennis, Jatta.

Subs

Griffiths, Aljofree, Norburn, Jarvis (if fit) Cotter, Bennetts, Hall.

I think that this match squad could get Notts back to winning ways. Eight players out of the starting eleven are players that have been at Notts for a while, so they should be able to play cohesively together.

i want to see more of rod mcdonald playing those long balls to break the back line, i felt disappointed he did not play one of them against gillingham as it could have pushed them further back. i dont think martin paterson sees how dangerous it can open up play at times when passing just is not working. gillingham liked throwing angle balls into our penalty box.

notts needs to be a lot more focused against crawley because they will be a bit scrappy as per usual.

This should be a match that in theory is perfect for Martin’s pro-active press and more direct football. Crawley will try to pass it out from the back so the opportunity to force some turn-overs high up the pitch will be there. And if we force them to go long, assuming Tshimanga starts up front, he won’t win much in the air against McDonald so we should be able to get the ball back.

I know Gordon might be out for a while but we have such a stacked squad we can change things up pretty easily and without really being any weaker, I expect we will just play Cotter but we could potentially tweak the formation if we don’t want to play with wingbacks. We do have an overload of midfielders, I like Robertson, I've been impressed with Iorpenda and I want to see more of Hall because of how highly he is rated... I think that would actually be a very effective three man midfield (if we played that way!)

I think in a way this match is quite important, we need to keep picking up points that is obvious but in terms of style, under Scott Lindsey Crawley were always the closest to us. If we get played off the pitch by Crawley will our focus to just be more physical be in vain?

You’d hope that playing at home with a more direct style, focused on creating chances, would help Notts come out on top. It’s the kind of setting where they should be looking to take control. Crawley are no pushovers and can hurt teams. I agree about the habit of passing backwards. It often leads to a dead end, especially when the other side presses high and forces us to retreat.

Notts can’t go into the match expecting Crawley to sit back. The players need to take charge and push the game forward. I’d like to see more urgency and intent from the start. Sometimes I think a big win would boost confidence the most. But when I watch the games, I find myself happy enough with a narrow win if it gets the job done.

The performance might not be perfect, but if they show effort and get off the mark early, that would be encouraging. Hard work and a bit of grit go a long way.