Game 2 - The Hatters (H)

Team: Stockport County

Date: 06/08/19

Where: Meadow Lane

What line-up should Neal Ardley opt for? 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.

i am looking forward to seeing the game, it will be a real chance for me to see what the players play like together. im keen to see how the signings do, i think with the home support it will take some of the edge of the game.

not sure about if notts will win but a draw seems about right.

I think by Tuesday i would have expected the team to be gelled and on the same page. I think this will be a good game And hopefully we can take the 3 points and that should put confidence and pump energy into the squad. I think Tyson could could with a bit of support up front and playing enzio on the right left could be the feeder that @Chris and myself spoke of needing after Saturday’s game. If Ben Turner is able to start in defence that will really help as him and Slocombe have the same way of doing things which will help the defence grow in confidence.

Stockport played 4-5-1 at home to Maidenhead on Saturday. They lost 1-0. Don't be surprised if they play 4-6-0 against Notts! Notts will have to come out and attack, Stockport will sit back and hope to score from set pieces. The first goal will be crucial. I'll go for a hard fought 1-0 home win. 

I think Neal Ardley must start with two strikers, having them play out wide as he does with Kane Hemmings isn't effective and Nathan Tyson tried but he's isolated. With both teams having lost, I think both will want to win - I'd be surprised if Stockport sat back.

We might have more of the play, yet at set pieces Notts must be tighter to their man when defending.

It's going to be a good game hopefully, just hope we can keep going if Stockport tries to break the play up as Eastleigh did, I'd take a draw if I am honest as it takes some of the nerves off but hoping we can grab our first win.

Would like to think we could win but we are way behind other clubs in terms of squad fitness. Turner is nowhere near match fit and until today we only one defender with any height and we can’t score for toffee.

I feel sorry for Ardley ...... Notts fans wouldn’t be satisfied if Pep decided to join the merry go round!

Meadow Lane should be a fortress. Team should fear coming here. Stockport figured out that there was a point for the taking with half an hour to go and went for it and got it. Notts need a target man big time. Upset the opposition. Drawing at home to Stockport is a bad result. No denying that. 

Well, Facebook is in meltdown over this one. According to the radio it was definitely an improvement over Saturday, but the visitors deserved a point at the very least. But at least we did create some chances, not least the chance to go 2-0 up immediately before the equaliser - what a sickener. Looking forward to seeing it for myself as soon as the Bananarama League allows me to watch the highlights.

The Stockport fans were loud throughout (I haven't heard Hey Baby at the football for years - they were partying like it's 2001). They were obviously on a high after promotion and enjoying visiting a big ground again. They also had a team that had won promotion together and a manager who has been in his post since 2016. We on the other hand are weeks behind the rest of the league and fielded two defenders who hadn't even trained with the rest of the squad. So it's clear that they won't play like a well-oiled unit and any opposing team worth their salt will try to take advantage. Until the team has gelled it'll just have to scrap for every single point.

The individuals we have will have to grow into a team quickly given the schedule we've got. Hopefully they'll be up to the task and will get our first win on Saturday.

It was a good performance, the signs throughout the game was there, but it's hard to see where the goals will come from right now.

The loss of Nathan Tyson is a blow, he worked hard and chased the ball. A single striker seems to limit things, even if the wider players are supposed to support him - I don't think this is the case. Defensively, Notts looked patchy and I don't get why there's such a fan following Dion Kelly-Evans. I felt he made the side quite vulnerable due to his stature and lack of defensive mind.

Good going forward, quite mediocre at the back.

Sam Slocombe is a big improvement, I would fear right now if he wasn't in goal because Stockport County had several chances that should have been scored.

I think a draw is a fair result, both teams attacked and missed chances. Their goal felt like a sucker punch, yet I didn't understand why Neal Ardley threw two defenders on, when it was clear Notts needed another goal. A goal which never seemed likely to come back of the limitations up top, this said I enjoyed the class and the standard of football isn't that bad at all.