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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Sport
Oliver King

The importance of away form explained by Luke Williams ahead of another Notts County away day

When you compare Notts County's away form from last year to this season, it has been a remarkable improvement as Luke Williams' side continues to impress on the road.

The Magpies have accumulated 43 points from 18 games away from Meadow Lane this season, 16 more than their total under Ian Burchnall for the entirety of last campaign, with something of an Achilles heel in recent years, most certainly addressed since his arrival.

Eight of Notts' ten defeats last year came on the road, compared to just one suffered at the hands of Dorking Wanderers earlier on in the season.

READ MORE: John Bostock makes Notts County claim following National League doubt

And September 17 remains the only time Williams' side have tasted defeat away from home this season, scoring 37 times to propel them to second place in the National League table, surrendering top spot to Wrexham on Tuesday night following their 2-1 victory over Chesterfield.

The defeat at Meadowbank Park came with its questions however, with the Notts boss describing the playing conditions as 'hard to find something similar' on Dorking's astroturf surface, with this weekend's clash against Bromley also played on an artificial pitch - with Williams revealing that his side had trained on a similar surface in preparation for the trip to Kent.

But when asked to pinpoint the reasoning behind his side's success away from home, the Magpies chief explained how his gameplan from when he arrived at the club has not changed in trying to unsettle the home side as early as possible on their travels.

"I feel like we have one mentality of the group to try to establish ourselves on the game," explained Williams.

"We are not concerned whether we are home or away, but concerned with trying to make the game look the way we want it to look - and that is the most important thing.

"With different groups, you get an idea of what they can and can't do and whether the mentality of the group is more fragile, but the way we have approached away games with this current group of players has been ideal for them.

"The home and away form looks very similar, and probably even more so if I am being fussy but I think that's the idea away from home that we establish ourselves as quickly as we possibly can - but the biggest thing to deal with is probably surfaces away from home.

"We have a very consistent pitch here at Meadow Lane because it has barely changed from the opening game of the season because we are extremely spoilt with the investment on the pitch and the incredible ground staff - so we know the pitch and how it plays, but away it's a little bit more tricky."

The defeat against Dagenham and Redbridge last weekend was earmarked as a pivotal moment in this remarkable title race - with Phil Parkinson's side taking full advantage of the loss and moving a point clear of Notts with a game in hand.

It was the first time in over a year that the Magpies had tasted defeat on home soil, with Williams' side having now picked up more points away from Meadow Lane this campaign - something he was quick to analyse as a missed opportunity when looking back at the results.

"At home, we could have won more games, I think the Yeovil home game was a missed opportunity.

"Yeovil played brilliantly that day but we created a lot of chances, and I think the Dagenham game is another one where we created a huge amount of chances and we could have quite easily won those two."

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