Neal Ardley is still hoping Notts County can achieve “something remarkable” as he admitted he is hurting over the club’s fight to retain its Football League status.
The Magpies boss knows his side needs two wins in their last two games to have any hope of avoiding the National League next season starting with Grimsby Town on Saturday and Swindon on the final day.
Notts are currently two points adrift of safety ahead of the visit of the Mariners on Saturday in a long season that has been turbulent both on and off the field.
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Having been appointed last November, becoming the third Notts manager in a season, the former AFC Wimbledon boss has kept his side in the fight for survival having been written off back in January.
But the former Cardiff player says he is pained by the current situation at Meadow Lane and says he would rather the burden be on his shoulders rather than his players.
“It hurts, I can’t hide the fact that not being able to build enough momentum to get out of it is something that you wrestle with as a a manager,” he said.
“Part of you says, you’ve only got so much in your own hands.
“But it is what it is.
“I am the one who makes the decisions and we are limited in what we can select given the injuries.
“But I can’t go out there and get these six points that my team needs, but I can make it a lot harder for them.
“My job is not to do that.
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“But in my moments at home I feel that burden and I want it to be on me. I feel the frustrations, the anxiety and the anger of the fans.
“I am happy to take all that on me. If it gives my players a better chance of solving this then let it be on me.
“But I am human and it hurts. I have to keep picking myself up and going out there, lifting the players and see if we can achieve something remarkable.”
