Game 10 - The Railwaymen (A)
Team - Crewe Alexandra
Date - 27/09/2025 11:30
Where - Gresty Road

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.

Barring injuries, suspensions etc., I would go with the same team as started last week. Hopefully we can push on and get a result, I wouldn’t be dismayed by a draw but a win would be great. The kick off is 12.30 and if your not travelling and you have sky sports+ you can watch it live,

I'm looking forward to this one. I do hope that fitness permitting Martin Paterson will pick the same starting eleven & the same substitutes that he selected against Crawley.

If Dennis is fit then it would still be a good idea to play with one striker with either Dennis playing behind Jatta in the same side or Dennis starting on the bench. My preference would be Dennis on the bench.

I know that putting Dennis on the substitutes bench might be controversial, but he is returning from injury & I also think the side that played against Crawley picks itself.

Crewe are going to want to play a passing game so it will suit Notts to employ a high press & try to win the ball as soon as possible, & try to hit Crewe on the break & down the flanks.

I'd stick with Tsaroula & Jodi on the wings with Grant & Iorpenda behind Jatta. Then in the 2nd half we will have the option of bringing on super subs Luker & Hall to do some damage to the tiring Crewe rearguard.

I'm hoping that a revitalised Notts can get a win against one of their closest rivals & make another statement regarding their promotion credentials.

Me too @Fan of Big Tone I'd like to see it unchanged. And that's with Grant and Iorpenda not being great last week, but they seem like a good pairing to start away at Crewe.

The best time to re-introduce Dennis, as a 2nd CF or Inside-forward would be at home, it might backfire if he had a difficult away game.

As for Hall and Luker, their time will come and they'd better be ready. I doubt Grant and Iorpenda will be able to produce the goals and assists to be able to hold down those positions, to guarantee themselves regular starter slots all season.

Crewe made a strong start to the season and looked like a solid side. They picked up good wins against Salford, Crawley and Fleetwood, which showed what they’re capable of. Since then, though, they’ve struggled a bit, losing to Swindon, Barnet and Barrow. That dip in form shows they’re not quite consistent yet.

They seem to play better away from home, so it’ll be interesting to see if Notts can rise to the challenge and put in a strong performance on the road.

I’d like to see Notts come out with energy and try to put Crewe under pressure early. It feels like the sort of match that could end in a draw, but it really could go either way. Hopefully, the return of players like Scott Robertson and Jayden Luker will give us something to build on, as it gives Martin Paterson more choices to work with.

Tantalising fixture in that the form suggests we can nick the 3pts.

I actually think the team picked to start last Saturday makes even more sense for tomorrow. Robertson and his MoM performance has potentially changed the equation for us, and will even allow us to play 2 up top more often.

When you have 2 holding CMs, you don't ask for much in the final third but you have to get something to keep the opposition under pressure numbers-wise. That's never going to come from the Palmer-Norburn combination, but Robertson does offer that thrust and threat in the final third that makes all the difference to the balance of the team. Now we have Robbo (the old one) and Ray Wilkins rather than 2 Ray Wilkins

Crewe fans on social media are acting like they’re unbeatable. I find it annoying when their stadium name sounds like a breakfast cereal. Notts needs to keep up the recent momentum and keep working hard to create chances. I don’t mind a draw if it’s earned through effort. Defensively, we should be able to handle Crewe. The main worry is their aerial threats and set pieces, but we’ve looked better lately. I hope we can ease the pressure at the back by attacking more or at least keeping hold of the ball and moving into areas that stretch them.

2 hours ago, theAnticlough said:

Tantalising fixture in that the form suggests we can nick the 3pts.

Both teams will be thinking the same thing. Crewe will want to improve their home form and Notts need to start picking up important points away from home.

It should be a good match, but I hope Crewe focus on proper football and don’t turn to tricks or time-wasting. Even their fans have admitted on one of their messageboards that they got lucky with the officials in a recent game.

Notts need to stay calm and avoid getting frustrated. The focus should be on creating chances and playing our way.

44 minutes ago, CliftonMagpie said:

The main worry is their aerial threats and set pieces, but we’ve looked better lately.

MP revealed his hand when Jatta was out by saying how much he missed having such a tall player available to counter that threat. This will be one of the reasons Jatta will be picked every game and won't be taken off all that often. It'll make it more challenging for Dennis to play the maximum amount of minutes. Hopefully he can prove himself as a No10 as well as a 2nd or 1st striker.

I'm OK with this because Jatta is worth his place (and we need to boost his value). I know Wootton is a proven L1 player now, but he really should have been dropped at times with us, when he was having one of his lean spells, but was kept in all the time for just this reason.

Crewe have always been a hard-working team that likes to attack and counter the opposition. They have some very good technical players in their squad, such as Joel Tabiner (ligament injury) and Jack Lankester.

They will be missing Tabiner, as he is like their Matt Palmer, very good at holding the ball and leading the line with simple, and clever passes. Lankester is attacking-minded and offers flair, unlocking defences and a very sharp intellect on the pitch. Part of the reason Crewe have been so good so far is largely down to how excellent their midfield is.

I would single out Tom Booth as a potential weakness, and if we can't exploit the way he goes missing when good teams are attacking, I would be disappointed. Sam Waller is a better keeper, in my opinion.

Defensively is where Crewe can fall apart, and their manager Lee Bell has been calling out their form and results as not being acceptable. I think he will be looking to make them tighter, and I wouldn't be surprised if they change from having a back four to offering an extra man in midfield and matching our formation more closely.

I'm expecting the game to be very end-to-end and scrappy in spells. Getting someone like Jodi on the ball might calm things down, so I hope we try to play passing, attacking football.

It's a good time to play Crewe. They haven't won a league game since August. Bizarrely they beat Chesterfield 7-1 in the Football League Trophy earlier this month. They were poor against Barnet in their last game. We need to start picking up points on the road. Given the circumstances, it would be disappointing to not get something out of this game.

Don’t things change quickly in football, only a few weeks ago Crewe were top of the table, now they are 12^th and haven’t won any of their last 5 league matches…

In terms of the team for Saturday I think I keep the team the same, I liked the shape with the two centre mids and two number 10s. This is the area where it’s trickier to say who should start, Hall and Luker seems the obvious change but you can make a case for Grant and Iorpenda because they did all the hard running that helped to tire the Crawley defence. It sounds like Dennis isn't 100% but will hopefully make the bench.

I noticed in the pre-match press conference there was something about us having a poor record at Crewe. I can still remember that penalty decision in our first season back and them scoring from our corner last season when we lost 2-0. Surely we can't keep getting these horror moments there!

Crewe are one of those games that could go either way. Form does not always mean much because both teams are still trying to find some consistency. I would be disappointed if we let them play us off the park or if we failed to give a good account of ourselves.

This does not mean we have to be brilliant, but we should at least show that we tried and that every effort was made. I would like to see Nick Tsaroulla a bit more lively, and I hope whoever plays up front gets the service needed to create good chances.

With a 4-0 win behind us, it would be great to follow it up with another comfortable victory.

It's Matchday!!!

CMON U PIES!!!

The Notts team news is in.

Dennis on the Bench. Hall replaces Grant in the starting 11.

The match is underway.

Goal to Crewe. They scored from a corner.

Crewe 1 Notts 0: 8 min

What was juggler Roos doing???he was too easily blocked off!!!

15 - Booth dives to his left to push Palmer's curling effort behind for a corner.

Crewe 1-0 Notts

Update

33 - Hall with a nutmeg allows him to race into the area. He decides to pass to Iorpenda rather than taking on the shot & his team mate's effort goes high and wide.
Crewe 1-0 Notts

Update.

GOOOOOAAAAAL TSAROULLA 

HALF TIME

All Square at the break

Going behind gave the team chance to prove they could get on top of Crewe. We deserved to equalise. Please don't do anything crap at the back again, we can win this.

their goal was a very good delivery into a difficult area to defend, i dont blame roos but i do think it could have intercepted before their player scored. its one of those things tho, notts has looked very good in spells. brilliant goal by tsaroulla to get us level. its just that bit between them scoring and us going level that could have been a bit better at times but it is end to end.

Back to it

Update