⚽ Match Thread vs. Aldershot Town 07.01.23 [NL]

[SwalePie]

Match day is here and Notts travel to The EBB Stadium hoping to return to a flow of wins. (That's The Recreation Ground to you and me but I couldn't resist the pun!)

Will the Pies be bringing all three points back from Hampshire, or indeed any at all? Today would be a perfect day to break another National League away hoodoo.

Team news around 2:00pm

BBC RNS commentary will be available here for those who need it. Here's hoping for afew of those inimitable 'get in' shouts from the Stark Mallard.

COYP!

[upthemaggies]

"Must win" gets thrown about far too easily.

6 points dropped so far against the current top 9

6 points dropped so far against the current bottom 7 (Aldershot among those 7).

Not sure if an away fixture mid-way through the season that isn't a six pointer should be described objectively as a "must win". If not then this is probably as close as you're going to get to one.

We broke the Eastleigh hoodoo in November, need to do the same in Aldershot today.

[jackal2]

I've enjoyed my visits to Aldershot in the past irrespective of the result. Unique little ground with old-fashioned character, compared with the neat but often soulless Lego sets some clubs have built.

Last week's unnecessarily dropped points against a side we should have beaten can still be turned into a positive IF we show we've learned the lessons today. Making mistakes is human, but repeating mistakes is unprofessional. We can't afford to get arrogant, and we shouldn't ask Sam to overplay.

[60YearsAPie]

Two up top - you know it makes sense!

[jackal2]

Arguably our strongest first 11.

[WarsopPie]

Bonus Austin not playing doesn’t bring anything to the side what I’ve seen of him

[Notts78]

Bonus Austin not playing doesn’t bring anything to the side what I’ve seen of him

Given he’s hardly played that’s clearly not a lot. He was very good against Oldham at home. Though the return fixture last week, like many, he was poor

[jackal2]

Bonus Austin not playing doesn’t bring anything to the side what I’ve seen of him

Austin's had a couple of ordinary games recently but he's a good player in my opinion, although he doesn't pose as big a goal threat as Langstaff and Scott. He's more of a creative influence.

If you go back to the comeback at home to Chesterfield which really kickstarted our season, it was the quality of Austin's service to Langstaff that got Macauley and the team going. Unfortunately for him there's a lot of quality competition for places in our squad these days and someone has to play a supporting role, but Sam Austin shouldn't be underestimated.

[the_anticlough]

Arguably our strongest first 11.

Yeah, very happy to see it

[matt_magpie]

Austin's had a couple of ordinary games recently but he's a good player in my opinion, although he doesn't pose as big a goal threat as Langstaff and Scott. He's more of a creative influence.

If you go back to the comeback at home to Chesterfield which really kickstarted our season, it was the quality of Austin's service to Langstaff that got Macauley and the team going. Unfortunately for him there's a lot of quality competition for places in our squad these days and someone has to play a supporting role, but Sam Austin shouldn't be underestimated.

100% agree, I rate him.