Neal Ardley admits he no longer has to pick Notts County’s team by “default” and says the intense competition for places is only going to improve performances.
Ardley has signed 11 players since a transfer embargo was lifted earlier this month in the aftermath of Christoffer and Alexander Reedtz completing their takeover of the club.
Notts are still in the hunt for further additions to help complement the top end of the pitch with a target man and a winger on the agenda.
And Ardley believes that such is the quality of the squad it is presenting him with difficult team selections which saw impressive defender Zoumana Bakayogo left out against Wrexham last weekend.
“In the past we’ve probably picked the team by default,” he said.
“As a manger I would much rather have difficult conversations.
“Before the game (against Wrexham) I had to pull Zoumana Bakayogo and say ‘listen I am not leaving you out for any other reason than we need to freshen the team up’.
“He has been excellent as well. That’s the problem you want which is not being able to justify why somebody isn’t in the team.
“That’s great, and it’s only going to make those players in the team play better.”
