Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Sport
Oliver King

Lessons learned from Barnet showing as Luke Williams previews Notts County's trip to Altrincham

Luke Williams has highlighted the importance of his side learning lessons from their second-half performance against Barnet that resulted in their dominant display over Scunthorpe at the weekend.

The Magpies ran away comfortable 4-0 winners against the Iron at Meadow Lane, with Macaulay Langstaff taking his total to 39 goals for the campaign, equalling a 93-year club record for the most goals in a league campaign.

A win for Notts at the J.Davidson Stadium tomorrow evening will see them reclaim top spot from Wrexham having played two games more than Phil Parkinson's side.

READ MORE: Record looming, rule change, and the perfect response: Key talking points from Notts County's win over Scunthorpe

Williams regarded his side's first-half showing at The Hive Stadium as one of the best he had witnessed from his players this season, but were undone from a set-piece right on half time which saw the points shared in north London despite having several opportunities in the second half.

And the Notts head coach explained that in the build-up to his side's win over the Iron, the value of assessing their second-half display proved pivotal in another immense showing from his side.

"I felt like they played the game up until we conceded the goal, they played it in a way that they showed me that they were totally focused on the moment and playing the game in front of them.

"We tried to learn lessons from the second 45 minutes, and we have to remember that Barnet are very good, they are fifth in the league, so we showed a weakness and they pounced on that.

"So the message has been let's not get away from focusing on performing well, and I felt like we picked up from the first 45 minutes at Barnet and played a 90-minute game in that same frame of mind."

Tomorrow night will see the Magpies travel to 13th-placed Altrincham, a side whose season has been filled with inconsistency.

Alty managed to beat Woking, Barnet, Solihull Moors, and Southend in their most recent National League fixture, boasting the eighth-best home record in the division.

But a lot was made on social media regarding the playing condition of the pitch at the J.Davidson Stadium, specifically during the England C team's fixture with Wales that took place last week.

With three games in the space of seven days, Williams accepted that while playing conditions may not be ideal, his side must not lose focus on returning to Meadow Lane with all three points.

"We have to deal with it, they have to deal with it as well and they are a very good football team, so there is no excuse for the pitch.

"Yes, moments can be more difficult to play freely and cleanly and you have to concentrate more on the simple passes that you can take for granted on other nights.

"As a head coach, I have to accept that players are going to make a pass that are uncharacteristically loose but the opposition has the same thing too.

"We have played on some pitches that have been tough to play on and they cause you a problem, and if you are not switched on we know the problem it can cause - so we know we have to have the right mentality to deal with that."

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.