Game 32 - The Bluebirds (H)
Team - Barrow
Date - 07/02/2026 15:00
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.

My eyes are always on the No.10 positions. It's amazing we sit in 2nd while not really getting all that much from all the different pairings we've tried there.

Of the options available, I'd go for Dennis and Iorpenda. I've got a feeling we'll get our first sighting of Tangen in this one.

Notts have yet to beat Barrow since their return to League 2 & Barrow beat Notts 2:1 at their place earlier in the season in August. So Barrow are another one of those bogey sides for Notts.

Even though Barrow stand in 21st place in league 2 & have lost their last four League matches, Barrow will still pose a big challenge for Notts on Saturday.

Barrow are known to be very tough to break down defensively & they will put men behind the ball to try to frustrate Notts, then try to hit Notts in the break.

Notts have injury worries regarding Palmer, Jones & Jatta, three of their best players, & it would be a blow for Notts if they are sidelined for this match.

But Notts have shown this season that they have players that can come into the starting eleven & do a good job for them, by working their socks off as we saw with the win against Gillingham.

I believe that Notts can get their sixth win in a row on Saturday. It won't be easy, but I think that a moment of quality or two could prove to be the difference that will give Notts the winning edge.

I am a tad worried fatigue may catch up with us given how tired the players looked after Gillingham. I think from the players out Jodi could possibly be back in contention for this one, I’d start him if he’s feeling good. Assuming Jatta is missing I’d keep Dennis upfront and I’m expecting Grant back in the side just to keep us looking fresh.

I think the subs might be key in this one, especially if it’s close, to keep the high energy up that Martin desires. I just worry we are a tad short in terms of making changes in midfield, Norburn has played every match since early December now, Robertson is just back and Iorpenda has taken over as one the attacking midfield players now. It would be nice to have some fresh legs for the last 30, but that would require leaving one of them on the bench...

Barrow have had since Saturday to prepare for his so I’m expecting they’ll come with a plan to frustrate and wait until the second half to potentially go for it a bit more when we could tire again. Funny because even with 5 wins on the spin I’m not super confident it’s going to be 6 from 6, here's to hoping it is though!

MP's pre-match interview seemed quite gloomy on the injured players. 'Weeks not months' is a positive, but still a real blow at this stage of the season.

I like how Pato is so conscious not to give the opposition any information from his interviews, much more than other recent managers. Maybe this was particularly the case yesterday. I'd also like to think there's needle in this one - the way they won deep in stoppage time in August. Maybe they weren't very gracious celebrating that. Whatever, the manner of defeat alone should give the players extra motivation in settling the score. The following 25+ games have showed we're much better than them and we should aim to give them a pasting.

It's Matchday!!

Notts team to face Barrow.

Jodi Jones back, Jatta & Palmer still out

SIX WINS ON THE SPIN.

A nervy end to the match as we've seen in previous matches but Notts doing just enough to win once again.

Another goal for Dennis proving to be the difference.

The players were nowhere their best today but we did enough to win.

Another day with poor finishing. Not just the Dennis miss but the times we have a player running in on goal wide but can only find the keeper or a defender.

Tangen looks to be an upgrade on Hall, who looks more and more lost each game.

Kouhyar is such a great sub to bring on

It seems to be a trend of late that we get ourselves into a winning position and find ourselves hanging on for the win. Next week against Bromley, if we are hanging on for a draw or win I suspect we will come unstuck against the masters of the late goal. I just hope Norburn and Robertson are fit or we could be in trouble.

When are we going to win by a couple or more goals? My nerves are shot to pieces every game just lately, we seem to be forever hanging on at the end of the game.

Having said that of course I’m happy that we get 3 points in all those games, the players show incredible strength and resilience to get over the line. Plus we are second in the league so I’m very happy but it would be nice to win comfortably for a change so I can relax in the last twenty minutes and enjoy the game.

League 2 Table after today's games.

Sky Sports

Notts County 2-1 Barrow | League Two highlights

Highlights of the Sky Bet League Two match between Notts County and Barrow.

I don't think we should be counting our chickens just yet. Yes, we are winning close matches after missing chances, but that luck could easily go the other way if we are not careful.

We need to turn domination into goals to give us a cushion in games, however I do feel more confident that we can achieve promotion this year. Bromley is going to be a massive game.

Grit and determination has been our forte over these past few weeks, keeping us all on the edge of our seats. We now have a squad with plenty of variety and depth, but for the next test we have to be at our best. Converting chances needs to be the aim, to put us firmly in the frame. So come on County do us proud, enabling your praises to be shouted loud.

Winning six in a row is fantastic. Winning by the odd goal isn't good for my nerves, but it shows that a) we have enough quality to decide tight games in our favour, and b) we have enough grit and nous to get over the line when we're under pressure, both vital qualities in a promotion push.

I don't think Barrow were a bad side at all. The last few minutes aside we always looked likelier to score IMO, but they played some good football and didn't look like relegation fodder. I take responsibility for Barrow's goal, the live table had just appeared on screen and I was working out how far ahead of fourth place we would be. The football gods don't like that.

One bright spot for me was Tangen - I hadn't been expecting to see him play so soon. He looked ring rusty at times, but he's got a great first touch, is always looking to play it forwards and is committed in closing down the opposition too. Really liked the look of him.

22 minutes ago, DangerousSausage said:

I don't think Barrow were a bad side at all. The last few minutes aside we always looked likelier to score IMO, but they played some good football and didn't look like relegation fodder.

I agree, after a pretty even first half we had a really good spell second half and played some really slick football at times and dominated up until the last 5/10 minutes when we basically had a make-shift midfield. We had the chances to give ourselves more than just the 1 goal lead, one team is going to suffer a 3 goal defeat soon surely!

I was impressed with the first outing of Tangen too, probably not even match-fit but looks to have the ability to play in the tight spaces.

Given that Roos got so much stick, it’s only fair to now give a bit to Belshaw because his attempt at a 1 handed punch almost cost us a goal, luckily, he was bailed out by Bedeau (and lack of goal-line technology).

6 from 6, all in the space of 3 weeks is mightily impressive though, thank god we’ve got a free week now and hopefully no new injuries.

4 minutes ago, menzinho said:

Given that Roos got so much stick, it’s only fair to now give a bit to Belshaw because his attempt at a 1 handed punch almost cost us a goal, luckily, he was bailed out by Bedeau (and lack of goal-line technology).

Good point, if you rush out to punch the ball you've got to make sure you get decent contact on it. It was hard to tell on PiesPlayer, but it looked to me as though Bedeau was slightly behind the goal line. Having said that, we should have had a penalty a few minutes earlier when Bedeau was held back, so maybe things evened themselves out.

Enjoyed the game on Saturday, it made a change for it not to be completely freezing!

Regarding the actual football, I can't say I was ever especially worried that Barrow would score an equaliser. When you take the emotion out of watching the game and look objectively at how the match unfolded then Notts were in control. There were tired legs and there was some of the natural back and forth of League Two football but only one counter attack actually hurt Notts. The data from the game backup how much control Notts were in throughout even after all the changes MP had to make.

Really liked the look of Tangen, excited to see his progress.

COYP!