"Notts" so far

[KeepTheMagpieFlyingH]

CB with pace and Forward with pace and we'll win the league.

The Defence is getting a bit of a raw deal and has done for a long time..It's no coincidence that whoevers in the back line we leak goals and have done for a long time.

[jacobncfc]

The defence has basically been fine so far. Coventry was a bit of a nightmare, but we came up against a kid being linked with £1m+ moves to the Premier League having the game of his life. It happens.

Since then they barely gave Chesterfield a sniff and, whilst Wycombe did score two, both were outstanding strikes.

I think the back five as it stands is more than good enough for a top seven finish. The big doubt is up front - like everyone else, I would want another striker, but I do rate Forte highly and think he can do a really good job if Nolan trusts him enough to give him regular starts through the middle.

[upthemaggies]

The defence has basically been fine so far.

As a raw stat, 8 goals conceded in the 3 away games played so far doesn't look good at all - similar to the worst periods of last season when they were letting in 2/3 on a consistent basis, but is that down to the team as a whole rather than just those at the back? And not so much of a problem if you're scoring plenty of goals at the other end, of course.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

As a raw stat, 8 goals conceded in the 3 away games played so far doesn't look good at all - similar to the worst periods of last season when they were letting in 2/3 on a consistent basis, but is that down to the team as a whole rather than just those at the back? And not so much of a problem if you're scoring plenty of goals at the other end, of course.

I think our start has been good overall.

However we still need to improve defensively because we have conceded 3 goals against Coventry and 2 against Wycombe and for too long we have had a habit of conceding two goals a game, and goals late on.

The clean sheet against Chesterfield was good and we showed good character and fight from being 2-0 up at Wycombe to then being 2-2 and going on to get the 4-2 win.

If we are to be challenging at the top end of the table then we must cut out 2 and 3 goals a game because those defeats and draws from conceding this many can be turned into wins and draws. The clean sheet is what wins titles.

First impressions are that we will not be a side that rolls over and that a Kevin Nolan team is a team that has character. That might just give us that bit extra and make the sum of the parts greater than the individuals.